💻 Previously, the ATP Tour has used a combination of ELC Live, ELC Review, and on-court line judges over the past few seasons. This significant change in officiating aims to improve accuracy and consistency throughout tournaments, match courts, and surfaces for players participating in both main draw and qualifying events.
Extensive research conducted by the ATP across various tennis stakeholders, including fans, has led to the decision to adopt Electronic Line Calling Live (ELC Live) with all-court coverage. The study identified accuracy and consistency as the most crucial factors in evaluating different line-calling systems.
🔢 Moreover, the Tour-wide implementation of ELC Live will provide complete player and ball tracking, leading to an unparalleled level of data for player-performance analysis. The ATP plans to collaborate with Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) to develop new game statistics using this data, and also explore potential commercialisation opportunities in the future.
🎙 Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman, stated: “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.”
ELC Live was first trialled at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017 in Milan as part of a raft of ambitious technological innovations, several of which have gone on to be implemented on the main Tour. In recent years, the system has been available for tournaments voluntarily, becoming widely adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, numerous suppliers are approved to offer ELC Live technology on hard court and grass, and the final testing phase for clay is in progress. The expectation is that from 2025, several suppliers will be approved to provide ELC Live across the various court surfaces.
