American tennis star Frances Tiafoe has claimed a key change to Wimbledon this year has lessened the tournament experience for fans.
Tiafoe cruised into the second round at the All England Club on the opening day of the tournament, securing a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Denmark’s Elmer Moller.
The 12th seed, who will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the second round, was asked about a major rule change at Wimbledon this year following his win.
Wimbledon has opted to introduced live electronic line calling, leading the line judges not being present at matches for the first time in 147 years.
Tiafoe admitted he preferred line judges being present, with a challenge system still available to players if they believe a call had been wrongly made.
He suggested the system offered more excitement for fans, rather than an automated system calling the ball out instantly.
Frances Tiafoe claims introducing electronic line calling damages the fan experience
Wimbledon opted for electronic line calling in place of line judges at this year’s tournament
Players could challenge decisions with the Hawkeye system from 2007 before the change
‘I actually like [it] with them [line judges] on the court, because I think for fanfare it’s better,’ Tiafoe said, as per the BBC.
‘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.’
His next opponent Norrie backed Tiafoe’s view, with the British star claiming the presence of line judges both ‘looks cool’ and was respecting the traditions of the tournament.
Norrie also noted that line judges had lost their jobs, with around 300 typically used at the tournament each year.
Concerns have also been raised that some players have been unable to hear calls made by the electronic system at times during their matches.
Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said the move to the live electronic line calling would offer the players the same conditions they had on tour.
The system is already used at all ATP and mixed tour-level events, as well as the Australian and US Opens. Last month’s French Open still used line judges.
Line judges had been a staple of Wimbledon for 147 years but are now not being used
Two students dressed as line judges protested against the use of AI at Wimbledon on Monday
‘Having reviewed the results of the testing 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,’ Bolton said last month.
‘For the players, it will offer them the same conditions they have played under at a number of other events on tour.
On line judges being replaced, Bolton added ‘I think they — and I wouldn’t speak for them individually – probably recognise that with the evolution of the technology and the consistent change across many of the other tournaments that this is probably inevitable,’ she said at a media briefing ahead of Wimbledon 2025.
‘So I think for many of them they had expected this change to come along and for those that will be joining us for the Championships in the match assistant role obviously they’re delighted still to be part of delivering the Championships.’
The 300 line judges previously used has been reduced to 80 match assistants, who will offer support in the event there are issues with the electronic system.