Hundreds of line judges have effectively been made redundant after Wimbledon became the latest Grand Slam to adopt electronic line calling.
The move, which was described as ‘inevitable’ by bosses at the All England Club, means this year’s Wimbledon will be the first in its 148-year history without line judges.
Spectators have become accustomed to seeing line judges surround courts wearing navy jackets, pinstriped shirts and white trousers or skirts.
For well over 100 years they have shouted ‘out’ and ‘fault’ to assist chair umpires but the sight and sounds of line judges is now a thing of a past at SW19.
Line judge Wendy Smith was ‘gutted’ when she found out about the development, which brought an abrupt end to over 40 years of service to Wimbledon.
‘When I heard the tournament was replacing us line judges with electronic line calling, I was gutted,’ said Smith, who first worked at Wimbledon in 1982.
Smith understands the desire from players and fans for ‘consistency’ but believes a charming aspect of Wimbledon will be ‘lost’ now line judges have been ditched.
She also bemoaned the fact the decision was not announced until after last year’s Championships, depriving line judges of a chance to ‘say goodbye’.
Speaking to The Guardian, Wendy added: ‘I imagine the All England Club has made this decision because the players want the consistency of computerised decisions – though several of them didn’t like Hawk-Eye at all when it came in.
‘But there’s so much that a human line judge does that a computer just can’t offer. We certainly keep up tennis’s traditions – I think we make the court look fully dressed.
Move to electronic line calling ‘inevitable’ – Wimbledon
‘The time is right for us to move on.
‘We absolutely value the commitment that those line umpires have provided to the Championships over many years.
‘And we do have a significant number of them coming back in a new role as match assistants, so we’re really pleased to have many of them still involved with delivering the championships.
‘I think they — and I wouldn’t speak for them individually — probably recognise that with the evolution of the technology and the consistent change across many of the other tournaments that this is probably inevitable.
‘So I think for many of them they had expected this change to come along and for those that will be joining us for the Championships in the match assistant role obviously they’re delighted still to be part of delivering the Championships.’
Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club
‘And spectators can learn a lot about the game when they can see the discussions between a line judge and the chair umpire. All of that will be lost.
‘I’m not saying we never make mistakes – we’re human, after all. But we hold ourselves to a very high standard.
‘It’s sad to think that I won’t get to stand on Centre Court again. And I wish they could have told us before last year’s tournament so that we’d have a chance to say goodbye.
‘I’ll always love tennis, but I don’t think I could bear to go to Wimbledon now as a spectator. It just wouldn’t have the same atmosphere.’
After the move was announced, AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said: ‘The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at The Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation.
‘Having reviewed the results of the testing undertaken at The Championships last year, we consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating.
‘For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour.
‘We take our responsibility to balance tradition and innovation at Wimbledon very seriously.
‘Line umpires have played a central role in our officiating set-up at The Championships for many decades and we recognise their valuable contribution and thank them for their commitment and service.’
Ahead of Wimbledon 2025, Bolton said the development was ‘inevitable’ and that is was the ‘right time to move on’.
The ATP uses electronic line calling across all of its events and the technology is in place for a number of WTA tournaments.
Wimbledon is the third Grand Slam to ditch line judges in favour of ELC following the Australian Open, in 2011, and the US Open, in 2022.
The French Open still uses line judges and have said they intend to maintain that tradition going forward.
‘I think we are right to keep our referees and line judges at Roland Garros,’ said Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT).
‘The federation wants to keep our referees for as long as we can. I hope we’ll be able to maintain it in our tournaments in the future.’
Despite the introduction of ELC technology, there will still be 80 ‘match assistants’ at Wimbledon assigned to matches in every court.
They will support the umpires and will resume their role as line judges if the technology goes down.
Malgorzata Grzyb, chair of the Association of British Tennis Officials, told BBC Sport: ‘There is a bit of sadness of course – it is the end of a tradition at Wimbledon, but it is something we anticipated.
‘We have watched the developments in major tennis events around the world – two of the Grand Slam tournaments already use electronic line calling. I think this was inevitable it was going to happen.’
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