Wimbledon says goodbye to line judges; AI will make the calls

That long-held Wimbledon tradition of line judges dressed in elegant uniforms is no more.

The All England Club announced Wednesday that artificial intelligence will be used to make the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls at the championships starting in 2025.

Wimbledon organizers said the decision to adopt live electronic line calling was made following extensive testing at the 2024 tournament and “builds on the existing ball-tracking and line-calling technology that has been in place for many years.”

Line-calling technology has long been used at Wimbledon and other tennis tournaments to call whether serves are in or out.

The public statement from Wimbledon read, “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.”



(AP Photo Alberto Pezzali)