The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in employing video review systems.
Replay systems will be launched at Wimbledon this year.
Players are granted the ability to contest specific rulings made by the chair umpire, following the system currently in place at each of the US Open and the Aussie major.
The new system is slated for use on Centre Court and the number one court throughout the Championships and on the other four show courts when they are staging singles contests.
This development follows just a season following the All England Club introduced ELC, which effectively ended the longstanding tradition of line judges.
Reviewable Decisions
Competitors cannot to dispute the accuracy of the electronic line calling, but they can request the official to re-examine other situations, such as:
- If a ball has bounced twice.
- If a ball touched an rival's racket or person during play.
- Possible hindrance end of a rally.
Notably, there is no cap on the amount of reviews a player can ask for.
Case in Point
An illustrative case occurred in Indian Wells recently, where a top player used the review system against his opponent.
Draper conceded it was a tough call for the umpire, but thought his rival had "used the regulations quite well."
The umpire watched a replay and ruled Draper was responsible for hindrance, awarding the point to his opponent.
Broader Adoption
Video reviews are not new for major tournaments. It has been in use at the US Open for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Additionally, it is becoming more common on the WTA circuit, and by next season the men's ATP Tour plans to have video reviews in place at all of its tournaments.
Additional Innovations
A further change at The Championships this year will be the introduction of graphical cues on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the electronic line calling system.
This addresses instances where fans have sometimes been uncertain if a ball was out or in.
Finally, with exactly 100 days remaining until the start of the tournament, the AELTC have further revealed an increase in daily capacity at the qualifying competition in the qualifying venue.
