After 147 years of history, Wimbledon tennis tournament will no longer have line judges. And that means The Championships will never be the same again.
Tennis fans are familiar with Wimbledon through line judges shouting "error" and wearing their expensive Ralph Lauren outfits.
And although the Hawk-Eye challenge system has been used in tournaments since 2007, line judges were still used until now, before deciding to replace them entirely with AI.
It is understood that the All England Club is reluctant to switch from standing referees on the pitch to the electronic system (ELC).
While the main referees will remain in their positions, about 300 line judges will have to be cut when the Hawk-Eye Live automation system takes over all 18 courts of the tournament including the Central Court - plus the qualifying round in Roehampton.
AELTC CEO Sally Bolton said: The decision to introduce Live Electronic Line Calling at The Championships was made after a significant period of consideration and consultation.
After reviewing the test results performed at This year's Championships, we believe that this technology is strong enough and it is time to take this important step to achieve maximum accuracy in our refereeing.
For players, the tournament will provide them with the same conditions as when they play at some other events on the tour.
We attach great importance to the responsibility of balancing tradition and innovation at Wimbledon.
The line judges have played a central role in setting up our referees at The Championships for decades and we acknowledge their valuable contributions and thank them for their service and dedication."
Hawk-Eye Live was first used for a 2020 US Grand Slam at the peak of the pandemic and continued in New York before being expanded to Australia.
Extremely sharp cameras will record when shots are taken out and automatically activate an "out" command via the PA Radio system.
ELC is considered the most accurate way to ensure consistent decisions - rather than line refereeing decisions that can lead to players challenging three times in a set.
However, the Hawk-Eye Live format is much faster and eliminates the need for challenges because the technology is used in real time - exactly ten seconds.
Reactions to the move may be divided.
Fans who love Wimbledon's tradition can compare this change to an important part of the tournament being torn up.
But players will certainly appreciate the move, especially since the men's ATP Tour is upgrading to ELC for all of its events from the 2025 season.
Wimbledon also announced a big change to their schedule at the weekend.
Accordingly, the 2 singles finals will start at 4pm instead of 2pm, the 2 previous doubles finals will start at 1pm.
