A line judge stands on the side of the court during a women's singles match at the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on May 26, 2025. Photo: AFP / Dimitar Dilkoff
The French Open will continue to use line judges for the 2026 edition despite the other three Grand Slams having already switched to an Electronic Line Calling (ELC) system, the French Tennis Federation said.
The ELC system was first deployed as an experiment at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2017 before being more widely adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ATP Tour has implemented the system at all of its events from this season, and while the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon now rely on the technology Roland Garros is opting to retain the human element for at least another year.
The French federation (FFT) said its officials had delivered a high standard of refereeing at the tournament.
"For the next Roland Garros, the FFT will continue to highlight the excellence of French refereeing, recognised throughout the world, and which brings complete satisfaction to the organisation of the tournament," it said on Monday (French time).
In the 2025 edition of the major, 404 referees were present with 284 from France alone.
At Roland Garros, officials can inspect traces left by the ball on the red dust to help them make decisions, though there remains room for human error.
A line judge at Wimbledon before the decision was made to go electronic. Photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP
ELC, which has been developed to account for the differences in grass, hardcourt and claycourt surfaces, is now also available across a wider range of tournaments below the Grand Slams and elite tours.
While it is mostly popular, the system received mixed reviews at Wimbledon this year due to malfunctions, while some players were left baffled by ELC calls during claycourt events in Madrid and Stuttgart.
- Reuters
