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Metro
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Metro
The fall of Wimbledon line judges: From split-second decisions to toilet trips
After 148 years, Wimbledon line judges have been replaced by AI, and their reduced roles as 'glorified butlers' has been nothing but sad. Until this year, a group of around 300 tennis fanatics took two weeks off from their normal jobs for the honour of working at the world's most prestigious tournament. They were paid – but it was for pride – not money. Bent over, hands on knees in their iconic and pristine outfits, they would stare intently for hours on end at their assigned tramlines, waiting in silence for the moment they could spring upright and shout: 'Out!' But those days are over. This year, Wimbledon introduced an electric line-calling system (ELC) on all courts, quietly decommissioning the humans who once played such a visible role, essentially replacing them with robots. The change is being sold as progress: fairer, faster, more accurate. Except, of course, when the technology isn't turned on, as happened in a now-infamous moment when a clear out ball was allowed to stand because no one had flipped the virtual switch. 'You cannot be serious' comes to mind. What of the humans who once manned the lines? Some have been reassigned to what might generously be called support roles… They now pop open fresh tubes of balls and accompany players to the toilet, while a camera system called Hawk-Eye determines whether a ball is in or out. For decades, these human officials were trained to spot the subtlest of margins, to keep their cool under pressure, and to deliver split-second decisions in front of millions. Now, they are mostly background noise. Approximately 80 former line judges have been retained as 'match assistants' at Wimbledon this year. 'They are there to assist the umpire with the ball changes, so opening the cans of balls and supervising the ball kids – who don't need it,' former line judge Pauline Eyre told the Daily Mail about the new role. 'They take the players to the toilet, because when if player needs a toilet break, they have to have an official to go with them, because they're not allowed to receive treatment. '[It was an] extremely skilled role. Now it's very nice, because they still get to be involved, but they're not using their extraordinary skills anymore…. [They are] glorified butlers. '[Some match assistants] are finding it, quite frankly, boring, and sort of feeling the loss, the loss of all their colleagues.' 'The time is right for us to move on,' Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said before the start of the 2025 tournament. '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.' Taylor Fritz vs Karen Khachanov: The quarter-final match was halted while both players were in the middle of a rally due to a 'malfunction' with ELC. Wimbledon blamed the incident on the position of a ball boy. Sonay Kartal vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: The ELC system was accidentally turned off because of a 'human error'. While it was down, one of Kartal's shots landed long but was not called out, with the umpire forcing the players to replay the point in controversial scenes. There's obviously logic behind the change. For the vast majority of calls it reduces error, removes bias and levels the playing field. But it also erases a human element that, while flawed, was part of the theatre in SW19. The tense silence after a close serve. The dramatic pause before the call. The moment when a player's glare met a line judge's deadpan stare. That choreography is gone now. And in its place? An invisible computer voice, a digital judgement with no pause and no appeal. Wimbledon may be looking to the future – but a few sidelined humans are still lingering courtside, wistfully watching the lines they once guarded. After a series of glitches, there are genuine questions as to whether the All England Club should bring line judges back into their usual roles. Russian player Khachanov, speaking after an electric line-calling malfunction in his defeat to Fritz, said: 'I'm more for line umpires, to be honest. 'I don't know. You feel a little bit [like the] court [is] too big, too alone without line umpires.' Metro spoke to a number of Wimbledon fans about the reduced roles of line judges at the All England Club on Friday morning. Brenda Price, 79, from South Wales, said: 'If they've been trained to be line judges, it's degrading isn't it? You could have a student doing that. I think we've lost some tradition without line judges. They were an integral part of Wimbledon.' Stuart Billington, from Northampton, was asked if line judges had been humiliated and added: 'I would say so, yes. I think they should bring them back. If electric line-calling is not working, then you're got to back up straight away.' Khachanov added: 'AI and electronic line calls has to be very precise and [make] no mistakes, but we've seen a couple. 'That's questionable why this is happening. Is [it] just like [an] error of the machine or what's the reason? 'Like today, I think there were a few calls. I don't know, very questionable if it's really touching the line or not. At the same time during one point, the machine called it just out during the rally. Sometimes it's scary to let machine do what they want, you know?' Analysis from Metro's dedicated tennis reporter Liam Grace… We appear to be at somewhat of a crossroads between AI and humanity. Not just at Wimbledon and not just in tennis – of course – but the Kartal vs Pavlyuchenkova incident was the perfect encapsulation. Pavlyuchenkova's distrust in the Hawk-Eye system was clear for everyone to see as she wondered aloud if Kartal's shot, which had clearly landed long, was not called out because she was British. That wasn't the case at all – it was because the system had been accidentally turned off – but our lack of trust in technology remains fascinating and doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. It begs the question, If ELC can go this wrong, especially on Centre Court at Wimbledon, then should tennis go back to human line judges? The answer, sadly, is probably not. At the end of the day, all of the other biggest tennis tournaments in the world are using Hawk-Eye… It would probably look a little strange to keep line judges at just one event. Jamie Murray, speaking exclusively to Metro, is adamant that most players would rather have electric line calling than line judges. 'Players overall would rather have electric line calling than line judges,' Murray said. More Trending 'There's 18 courts going at all times through the day. The system might work for 10 million calls but then it fails on one or two – and if it happens on a show court or whatever – maybe it blows up more than it should. 'It's the same system we've been using for the whole year and at all the other major events. There's not been many issues as far as I've been aware (outside of Wimbledon) so it's been working fine through the year. 'I don't think it's been a failure. It's far from being a failure. Wimbledon has had some issues with the set up but we've been playing with it the whole year with no problems so it's not a thing that's happening week-to-week like football where it's always talked about. I don't think it's a major issue.' So, it looks like line judges aren't coming back. Hey, at this rate, the ball kids might be next. Somewhere in a Wimbledon basement, someone's probably prototyping a device that can whizz across the grass hoovering up stray balls like a souped-up version of Hungry Hungry Hippos. MORE: 'My heart is bleeding' – Wimbledon champion upset by major tennis change MORE: Iga Swiatek or Amanda Anisimova? Martina Navratilova's prediction for 'close' Wimbledon final MORE: Wimbledon finalist slammed for breaking unwritten tennis rule
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Wimbledon: Electronic line calling system malfunctions during quarterfinal match
A malfunction with Wimbledon 's new electronic line calling system required a point to be replayed during a quarterfinal match between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov on Tuesday. The gaffe occurred during the first game of the fourth set on Court No. 1 after Fritz had served at 15-0 and the players exchanged shots. Then came what sounded like a 'fault' call. Chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell stopped play and a few moments later ordered the players to 'replay the last point due to a malfunction." The All England Club said it was looking into the issue. On Monday, club officials blamed ' human error ' for a glaring mistake in the electronic system that replaced human line judges this year. Club chief executive Sally Bolton said Monday that the technology was 'inadvertently deactivated' by someone for three points at Centre Court during Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's three-set victory over Sonay Kartal a day earlier in the fourth round. On one point, a shot by Kartal clearly landed past the baseline but wasn't called out by the automated setup — called Hawk-Eye — because it had been shut off. ___
Associated Press
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Wimbledon: Electronic line calling system malfunctions during quarterfinal match
LONDON (AP) — A malfunction with Wimbledon's new electronic line calling system required a point to be replayed during a quarterfinal match between Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov on Tuesday. The gaffe occurred during the first game of the fourth set on Court No. 1 after Fritz had served at 15-0 and the players exchanged shots. Then came what sounded like a 'fault' call. Chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell stopped play and a few moments later ordered the players to 'replay the last point due to a malfunction.' The All England Club said it was looking into the issue. On Monday, club officials blamed ' human error ' for a glaring mistake in the electronic system that replaced human line judges this year. Club chief executive Sally Bolton said Monday that the technology was 'inadvertently deactivated' by someone for three points at Centre Court during Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's three-set victory over Sonay Kartal a day earlier in the fourth round. On one point, a shot by Kartal clearly landed past the baseline but wasn't called out by the automated setup — called Hawk-Eye — because it had been shut off. ___ AP tennis:
Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Fast Company
What happened at Wimbledon? ‘Human error' blamed for ball-tracking tech mishap
The All England Club, somewhat ironically, is blaming 'human error' for a glaring mistake by the electronic system that replaced human line judges this year at Wimbledon. The CEO of the club, Sally Bolton, said Monday that the technology was 'inadvertently deactivated' by someone for three points at Centre Court during Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's three-set victory over Sonay Kartal a day earlier in the fourth round. On one point, a shot by Kartal clearly landed past the baseline but wasn't called out by the automated setup—called Hawk-Eye—because it had been shut off. Hours after Bolton spoke with reporters, the club issued a statement to announce that it 'removed the ability for Hawk-Eye operators to manually deactivate the ball tracking,' meaning 'this error cannot now be repeated due to the system changes we have made.' Bolton declined to say who made the mistake on Sunday or how, exactly, it occurred or whether that person would face any consequences or be re-trained. She did note that there were other people at fault: the chair umpire, Nico Helwerth, and two who should have let him know the system was temporarily down—the review official and the Hawk-Eye official. 'We didn't need to put line judges back on the court again,' Bolton said. 'We needed the system to be active.' Is Wimbledon using AI for line calls this year? No. But like most big tennis tournaments nowadays—the French Open is one notable exception—Wimbledon has replaced its line judges with cameras that are supposed to follow the balls on every shot to determine whether they land in or out. There are those, particularly in the British media, who keep referring to this as part of the ever-increasing creep of artificial intelligence into day-to-day life, but Bolton objected to the use of that term in this case. 'The point I would want to emphasize—and perhaps contrary to some of the reporting we've seen—is it's not an artificial intelligence system. And it is electronic in the sense that the camera-tracking technology is set up to call the lines automatically, but it requires a human element to ensure that the system is functional,' Bolton said. 'So it is not AI. There are some humans involved. And in this instance, it was a human error.' What happened on the missed call at Wimbledon? Russia's Pavlyuchenkova was one point from winning a game for a 5-4 lead in the first set against Britain's Kartal on Sunday when a shot by Kartal landed long. But there was no ruling from Hawk-Eye. After a delay, Helwerth decided the point should be replayed, which Pavlyuchenkova thought showed bias toward an opponent competing in her home country. With Hawk-Eye back up and running after a delay, Kartal won that game, but Pavlyuchenkova took that set and the match. The All England Club looked into what happened and found that the line-calling system actually was off for three points before anyone noticed. The system itself worked 'optimally,' Bolton said repeatedly. 'In this instance, sadly,' she said, 'it was the human part of the operation that made a mistake.' Why was the Hawk-Eye system accidentally turned off during a match? Bolton said the system is shut down between matches—'and the humans are the people that need to do the activating and deactivating'—and someone accidentally did so during Pavlyuchenkova vs. Kartal. Asked why, Bolton responded: 'Well, I don't know. It was a mistake, obviously. . . . I wasn't sat there, so I don't know what happened.' She said Helwerth could have made a ruling himself on the controversial non-call, the way he did on the prior pair of points, but instead just decided to pause the match. 'I'm assuming,' Bolton said, 'he felt he had not seen it properly.' Pavlyuchenkova said after the match the official told her he thought the ball was out. What do players think about the use of technology at Wimbledon? Players are divided on whether there even should be electronic rulings during matches—unless it is fool-proof—or whether there should be a return to Wimbledon's old way of doing things. Since 2007 through last year, there was a combination of the human touch and technology: There were line judges on court to make calls, but players were allowed to challenge and ask for a video replay of a point if they thought there was a mistake. 'It's such a big match, big event,' Pavlyuchenkova said. 'Since we have already automatic line-calling and so much invested into this, we should probably look into something else to have better decisions.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Where are line judges at Wimbledon? Why Grand Slam event moved to electronic system
Of the four Grand Slams that take place each year on the tennis calendar, perhaps the most traditional one is Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club — it is the oldest of the four, after all. However, the 138th edition of The Championships at Wimbledon has broken away from at least one of its longstanding traditions. Advertisement If you keep a keen eye on the action at Wimbledon as the tennis ball goes past a player and out of bounds on the grass court surface, you'll notice there are no longer line judges standing near the lines. Here's why the 2025 Wimbledon Championship doesn't have line judges on the courts: REQUIRED READING: Where is Wimbledon played? Location for 138th Wimbledon Championships Why does Wimbledon not have line judges? A new change to the 2025 Wimbledon Championships was the removal of a line judge and the introduction of an electronic line-calling system. There is still a chair umpire used in the Grand Slam event. Advertisement 'The decision to introduce live electronic line calling at The Championships was made following a significant period of consideration and consultation,' said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club, in an October statement. 'Having reviewed the results of the testing undertaken at The Championships this 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 recognize their valuable contribution and thank them for their commitment and service.' As noted by The Associated Press, Wimbledon's decision to go away from a human line judge for this electronic line-calling system isn't a first for Wimbledon and the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club to use technology. The tournament has used line-calling technology to call whether serves are in or out. Advertisement Here's what it looks like on the baselines at a Wimbledon this season without line judges: REQUIRED READING: What surface is Wimbledon played on? What to know Do any Grand Slams in tennis have line judges? Following Wimbledon's move to electronic line calling, the only Grand Slam event on the tennis schedule that still uses a human line judge is the French Open. "I think we are right to keep our referees and line judges at Roland Garros," French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton told ESPN. "For Roland Garros, we want to keep our linesmen as long as the players agree with that." Advertisement As noted by ESPN, the first Grand Slam that started using an electronic line calling system was the Australian Open in 2021. The U.S. Open then followed a year later. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why are there no line judges at 2025 Wimbledon? What to know
