Wimbledon 2025: Electronic Line Calling – First Day Report

The emptiness of the courts is noticeable on Centre Court and Court One, where the vast space behind the baseline is now occupied only by the ball kids.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie said it “looks cool” with the line umpires in place and contributes to the “tradition” of the tournament.

“Obviously there’s a lot of jobs and people that love tennis, which will definitely be missed from them,” he said.

But while many players agree line judges are part of the spectacle, few can argue with the accuracy of the calls.

“As a player it’s pretty black or white with the calls,” added Norrie.

“In, out… there’s no mistake, nothing happening. Definitely you’ve got to feel for those linesmen and those people. That’s a bit tough for them, but it’s pretty black or white with the calling.”

The theatre of players challenging the calls has also been a notable absence with fans unable to get involved with the drama of a close call being replayed on the big screen.

American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe said he would have liked to see Wimbledon keep line judges.

“I actually like [it] with them [line judges] on the court, because I think for fanfare it’s better,” he said.

“If I were to hit a serve on a big point, you go up with the challenge, is it in, is it out? The crowd is, like, ‘ohhh’. There’s none of that.

“If I hit a good serve now and they call it out, you may still think it’s in, but it doesn’t matter. I think that kind of kills it.”