The tournament joins the American and Australian Opens in implementing replay systems.
Replay systems are set to arrive at The Championships in the upcoming tournament.
Athletes will gain the right to question certain decisions made by the official, mirroring the protocol currently in operation at both the American Grand Slam and the Aussie major.
The new system will be accessible on the main stadium and Court One for the duration of the Championships and on the remaining show courts when they are staging singles contests.
This development follows just a year after the AELTC rolled out ELC, which brought an end to the centuries-old tradition of line officials.
Scope of Challenges
Players will not be permitted to dispute the call of the electronic line calling, but are allowed to ask for the official to review other decisions, such as:
- If a ball has double-bounced.
- Whether a shot touched an rival's racket or body on the way past.
- Potential hindrance end of a rally.
Importantly, there will be no cap on the amount of challenges a player can request.
Case in Point
An illustrative case took place in Indian Wells recently, where Daniil Medvedev initiated the review system against Jack Draper.
Draper admitted it was a difficult call for the official, but believed his opponent had "used the regulations effectively."
Official Aurelie Tourte viewed a video and determined the player was responsible for interference, awarding the rally to his opponent.
Growing Trend
This technology are not new for Grand Slams. It was adopted at the American major for two years and the Aussie Open this year.
Furthermore, it is becoming more common on the WTA circuit, and by next season the ATP circuit will have video reviews implemented at all of its tournaments.
Further Updates
A further change at The Championships this year will be the addition of visual indicators on scoreboards to support the audio calls from the ELC system.
This solves instances where fans have sometimes been uncertain if a ball was in or out.
In other news, with precisely 100 days to go until the beginning of the tournament, the AELTC have also announced an expansion in daily attendance at the qualifying competition in the qualifying venue.
