Nick Kyrgios believes Wimbledon bosses have made a mistake at this year’s Championships for ending a 148-year tradition at the tournament.
The outspoken Australian tennis star was unable to compete in SW19 this year and was not named in the BBC’s punditry team for Wimbledon 2025.
Kyrgios, a runner-up in the Wimbledon men’s singles in 2022, has instead been working for talkSPORT to share his views on various tennis subjects.
One of the big talking points at Wimbledon this year has been the decision to get rid of line judges, who’ve been replaced by electric line calling.
Up to 18 cameras – developed by HawkEye – are now situated around each court to track the progress of the ball and determine whether it is in or out.
They have replaced the 300 line judges that have been used for the past 148 years, with Wimbledon now using the same technology as other Grand Slam events.
‘Wimbledon should never change any rule’
Asked whether he would miss Wimbledon’s line judges, Kyrgios told talkSPORT: ‘I will, I will.
‘I actually had a conversation about this yesterday. I think Wimbledon should never change any rule.
‘It should be the only tournament that holds every tradition that ever started in tennis. I think every other week can have electronic line calling, but I wish Wimbledon kept it the same.
‘It’s been 148 years with human line calls. I think they could have got to 150 and done a big anniversary challenge.
‘Personally, I think it would have been cool to have traditions of tennis never change at Wimbledon. But the tennis world’s not going to listen to me.’
Henman: Wimbledon have made right decision
Former British No.1 Tim Henman, meanwhile, has defended Wimbledon’s decision to adopt electric line calling.
‘When you look at the technology within the sport, every event on the ATP Tour is going to have electric line calling this year,’ he said in a roundtable which Metro attended.
‘If Wimbledon took a decision to keep line judges I think that would have looked very bizarre at just one event.
‘Look, I completely appreciate, and Wimbledon is very aware, of the eco-system with line judges. Where do our umpires come from? Where do the referees at junior tournaments come from?
‘That is a very important eco-system so we all need to be aware of that. But when you look at the tech that’s available with electric line calling, I think it’s absolutely the right decision.’