You might have noticed something missing from the courts at Queen’s Club this year – where have the line judges gone?<\/b><\/p>\n
A familiar sight around the edges of the courts for decades, the men and women who shout “out” and “fault” have been replaced by electronic line calling.<\/p>\n
Electronic line calling uses cameras, computers and sensors to track a ball and is used by tennis umpires to judge whether a ball is in or out.<\/p>\n
This season the men’s tour – the ATP – has adopted the technology across all of its events, while the WTA – the women’s tour – has also been using it at many of its events. <\/p>\n
A combined men’s and women’s event, such as Queen’s, offers an easy opportunity for the technology to be used across the two tournaments. <\/p>\n
The ATP said the move to electronic line calling was to “optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces”.<\/p>\n