Home
App
Getting into line

Getting into line

Tournament Director Jamie Baker on Wimbledon's removal of line judges

Getty

Kate Battersby

Wimbledon will be without line judges this year. Jamie Baker, who has been Tournament Director at Wimbledon since 2020, was British number two behind Andy Murray in 2008 and played five times in the Wimbledon singles, explains all:

After 147 years, Wimbledon has dispensed with line judges in favour of electronic line calling. That’s a big change…

It’s simply the latest version of Hawk-Eye, which first arrived at Wimbledon in 2007. The system uses cameras, computers and sensors to calculate the ball’s trajectory and determine if it’s in or out. Until now, line judges made the calls, and Hawk-Eye ball tracking was used only as a technical adjudicator if a player felt that a line judge’s call was wrong. Now we have added more cameras to the ball tracking, and we no longer have line judges.

Two of the other three grand slam tournaments — the Australian Open and the US Open — brought in electronic line calling in 2021 and 2022. Why now for Wimbledon?

I began talking to our board about this trend three years ago. Now it’s the norm in professional tennis and players are used to it.

Electronic line calling is being used at three grand slams.

Electronic line calling is being used at three grand slams. BBC

So no more player challenges or on-court replays?

That’s right. An electronic line call cannot be appealed or overturned. But if a player wants to see the image of the ball on the line, they can request it during the match — but that never happens because one of the benefits is that there’s genuine acceptance now of the calls being made.

It’s very helpful for a player to know there’s no doubt. In my career I lost multiple matches because I lost my cool when I felt I’d had a bad call from a line judge. That whole dynamic has disappeared and it’s one less thing to get annoyed about.

Will it feel like Wimbledon has lost some of its spectacle and character?

The gladiatorial nature of tennis is actively emphasised by fewer officials on court. Besides, we still have the ballboys and girls, along with the umpire. Meanwhile, calls of “fault” or “out” are audibly announced by a variety of recorded voices. The human element is absolutely still there.

Could umpires also become redundant one day?

I can’t see it. They manage the whole match, acting as a mediator. I can’t think of any sport where there’s no one in charge on the field of play.

Is anything at Wimbledon so sacrosanct that it can never be swept aside?

The grass surface, definitely. The white clothing is also massively supported by the players. We’re guardians of the institution, walking a tightrope. That’s the difficulty in breaking a tradition — there’s expectation that we innovate, even while we value the traditions that make Wimbledon what it is.

Authors

Kate Battersby

Get the Christmas double issue

Too much to watch at Christmas? Let Radio Times do the choosing to find something the whole family will enjoy.

Subscribe by 3 Dec