The ATP Tour will enter a new era in 2025, adopting Electronic Line Calling Live technology to ensure accuracy and consistency in officiating across all matches.
As the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) looks to the future, the game's officiating is set to receive a significant update. The ATP has recently announced that Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) will be adopted Tour-wide starting in 2025.
This cutting-edge technology will cover all court lines for 'out' calls during matches, a role previously held by on-court line judges. The move comes after several seasons of experimentation with a combination of ELC Live, ELC Review, and traditional line judges at various ATP Tour events.
It also comes after the world no. 1, Novak Djokovic, experienced a massive mistake from the umpire on the clay courts in Monte Carlo, the surface where the electronic line calling live is the furthest from being adopted currently on the ATP Tour.
This decision was fueled by extensive research conducted by the ATP, surveying tennis stakeholders such as fans, who identified accuracy and consistency as the most crucial factors in evaluating different line-calling systems.
By implementing ELC Live across all tournaments, match courts, and surfaces, the ATP aims to optimize the officiating experience for players in both main draw and qualifying events.
In addition to improving line-calling accuracy, the all-court ELC Live coverage will offer comprehensive player and ball tracking throughout the entire Tour. This unprecedented access to data will foster in-depth player-performance analysis and the development of new game statistics in collaboration with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI).
Speaking about the new change, ATP Chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged the landmark moment for tennis, emphasizing the importance of tradition but also highlighting the responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies.
“This is a landmark moment for our sport, and not one we’ve reached without careful consideration. Tradition is core to tennis and line judges have played an important part in the game over the years. That said, we have a responsibility to embrace innovation and new technologies. Our sport deserves the most accurate form of officiating and we’re delighted to be able to deliver this across our whole Tour from 2025.”
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