Britain’s Break With Tennis Tradition Is Going Over About as Well as You’d Expect

LONDON—Wimbledon is adored for its traditions. But a change to this year’s tournament has fans crying “fault.”

For the first time in the championship’s 148-year history, line judges are being replaced by robots.

Instead of immaculately dressed officials—sporting their navy blazers, pinstriped shirts and white slacks—cameras are now positioned around each court to determine whether a ball is in or out.

But rather than embrace a future with fewer errors, Brits descending on the All England Club are mourning the death of the snazzy fixtures who produced great theater. John McEnroe’s “You cannot be serious” outburst stemmed from a disputed line call at Wimbledon in 1981.

“We don’t watch sport for the accuracy, we watch it for the drama,” said Gabriel Paul. The 27-year-old Londonder’s first summer job was working at Wimbledon when he was 17, and since then he’s been hooked on the tournament’s history. Dressed in line judge attire, he stood outside the stadium on opening day with a placard: “Don’t let bots call the shots.”

True to form, elements of the British media have seized on the change. A column in The Telegraph headlined, “All that’s left of Wimbledon is AI, no line judges and a strawberry sandwich,” bemoaned that the All England Club had joined “the cult of soulless modern innovations.”

That caught the eye of Richard Tice, deputy leader of Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party. “We want our country back. We want Wimbledon line judges back. Enough is enough,” the lawmaker wrote on X.

Organizers have said they take the “responsibility to balance tradition and innovation at Wimbledon very seriously.” In a Wimbledon touch, the AI system’s calls are vocalized using recordings of various All England Club staff.

Players haven’t been able to escape the debate. American Frances Tiafoe has said the line judges added to the fanfare of the tournament while Britain’s Cameron Norrie welcomed the clarity.

Britain’s Jack Draper isn’t charmed or impressed. In a four-set loss on Thursday, Draper disputed a call he said a human wouldn’t have missed. “I don’t think it’s 100% accurate, in all honesty,” he said after the match, calling it a “shame” the line judges are gone.

Former U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu also isn’t sold. “That call was for sure out,” the Briton said Friday of a decision in her defeat to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. “I’ve had a few in my other matches too that have been very wrong. Hopefully they can fix that.”

Wimbledon is following the U.S. Open and Australian Open among other tournaments in making the move. The French Open is the only Grand Slam to stick with human line judges.

Many of those making the pilgrimage to Wimbledon this week lamented organizers’ move.

Some fans stood outside the stadium registering their objection to the new system.

“There’s no need to change it,” said Charlie Liddle, who had scored tickets for the first time and was sad to be missing out on the umpires he said added to Wimbledon’s allure.

“I can understand both sides, but there’s a certain charm in seeing the line judges,” said Elena Carroll, who often attends the grand slam.

Sabalenka expressed her approval after the first day of the tournament, saying it has removed the dilemma players have long faced in deciding whether to challenge a call.

Despite all the racket, some players seemed to not even know about the change. Fabio Fognini in his first-round match against Carlos Alcaraz appeared to question the decision of the new system, apparently unaware that the ability to challenge a call is another tradition now consigned to the past. Before, players could request a video replay to review a ruling.

Some players struggled to hear the calls. “The voice, I cannot really hear it, it is a bit too low,” China’s Yuan Yue told the BBC after her first match, which she lost.

John McEnroe’s ‘You cannot be serious’ outburst stemmed from a disputed line call at Wimbledon in 1981.

A spokesperson for the All England Club said the tournament was monitoring the new system and would adjust the volume as necessary.

Wimbledon largely upholds its traditions, which are central to its unique history. The all-white dress code is more than a fashion choice; it’s a nod to Victorian sensibilities where visible sweat was deemed improper.

Even when money is on the line, Wimbledon has opted for the old-school approach. From this year, it will be the only Grand Slam to start on a Monday, foregoing the extra profits that the Australian, French and, soon, the U.S. Open turn by extending their tournaments to 15 days.

The smallest changes can risk public backlash. This summer, Wimbledon raised the price of its iconic strawberries and cream, a staple since the Tudor times, for the first time in 15 years. The increase, from £2.50 to £2.70 ($3.69), has drawn considerable media attention. The Daily Mirror called the roughly 28-cent price hike “staggering.”

Most of the 280 line judges are out of a job. The tournament will maintain around 80 of them in case there are issues with the electronic system.

London lawyer Ivan Milatović, 51, has been a line judge at 10 Wimbledon tournaments dating back to 2012. He said that while he was “a bit sad,” he saw the decision coming. “The players are the key stakeholders,” he said.

“I became an official because I was a tennis fan,” he said, “and I’ll be a tennis fan even after I cease being an official.”

Most of the 280 line judges are out of a job.