2023-04-28 14:19:18
Published on April 28, 2023 at 4:19 p.m.
The ATP announced this Friday on the sidelines of the Madrid tournament that from 2025, the linesmen would be replaced by an electronic device.
Line judges are already becoming fewer and fewer. In two years, they will disappear completely. The 2025 season will indeed mark the end of this historical tradition which consisted in relying since the beginnings of tennis on the human support of referees (in addition to that of the chair) responsible for checking on the court directly during matches whether the ball is fair or foul, and to announce it in the second case. An ancestral system that is living its last hours. Thursday, on the sidelines of the Madrid tournament, the ATP announced that from 2025, an electronic device would replace the line judges, at the same time ejected from the decor. In order to provide more precision and avoid errors, the device in question, called ELC, will signal faulty balls, as has already been the case for some time in many events, even if some tournaments again appeal to the line judges. But not for long.
Djokovic can rejoice
“Tradition is at the heart of tennis and linesmen have played an important role in the game. That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies. Our sport deserves the most accurate form of refereeing and we are delighted to be able to offer it across our entire circuit from 2025,” said ATP boss Andrea Gaudenzi, whose decision will likely delight many players. Novak Djokovic, in particular, had to rub his hands when he heard the news. On the sidelines of the last US Open, the world number 1, disqualified for having sent a ball at a line judge, had thus called for replacing the human with technology. “The technology is so advanced right now. There is absolutely no reason to keep linesmen on the field! “, had insisted the Serb, who was therefore heard.
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