After the International Tennis Federation announced the classification of the new three-tier system on Wednesday, electronic line calls will be available in a wide range of tournaments under the Grand Slam and Elite Tour.
Previously reserved for elite events, the ELC system was designated as gold, silver or bronze, expanding access to the moderator tool, following collaborations between four majors, male ATP, female WTA and ITF.
The Gold System is used in elite competitions such as the Grand Slam Tournament, WTA, ATP Tour, Billy Junking Cup and Davis Cup, while the Silver System covers second-tier competitions such as the ITF World Tennis Tour.
The bronze system is intended for national competition. Silver and bronze systems are designed to provide access to low-level tournaments with small budgets, due to the lack of infrastructure and no off-court operators.
“Systems that meet relevant criteria are eligible for use in events approved at an appropriate level and approved by the International Governance Agency,” the ITF said. “The principles in which systems are evaluated – accuracy, reliability, suitability, practicality – are the same at all levels. The new procedure unifies the international control agency’s approach to evaluation and continuous monitoring of ELC systems.
“Wider, more collaborative testing and sharing of results ensures a higher standard of system accountability and ELC delivery across the tennis calendar.”
First deployed as an experiment at the upcoming Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2017, the ELC was adopted more widely during the Covid-19 pandemic and ultimately used in all ATP tour events this year.
The Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon all replaced the line judges with the ELC, but the French Open has not yet done so as the traces left by the ball on Clay help the referees with decisions.
Although ELC is popular among players, it received mixed reviews this month on Wimbledon after All Ingland Club broke into tradition and adopted technology.
