Wimbledon ditches linesmen

Tennis grand slam tournament Wimbledon announced on Wednesday that the tournament will no longer use line judges next year. The well-dressed line judges, who have always been a part of the tradition-filled tournament, will be replaced by an electronic system.

Wimbledon follows the example of many tournaments in bringing a “precision-optimizing” line system to its own courts.

“With the tests done in our tournament this year, we feel that the technology is robust enough and now is the right moment to take this important step in maximizing accuracy,” the tournament organizers said.

“Line judges have played a central role in our refereeing for decades. Their contribution has been valuable, and we thank them for their commitment and service.”

The pearls of the final weekend of the tournament, i.e. the singles finals, will also experience a change. The women’s and men’s singles finals start at 4 p.m. local time, which is two hours later than usual.