Wimbledon’s debut of AI-powered line judges is drawing criticism from players who say the technology is making costly errors during matches.
This year marks the first time the tournament replaced human line judges with an electronic line calling system (ELC). British player Emma Raducanu said a missed out call by the AI led to her losing a point, while fellow Brit Jack Draper questioned the system’s accuracy. “I don’t think it’s 100 percent accurate,” he told reporters.
Other players reported technical issues. Ben Shelton was told to speed up his match due to sunlight possibly disrupting the system. Some athletes said they couldn’t hear the automated speaker, and a deaf player noted that without human signals, she couldn’t tell when she won a point.
Over the weekend, the system failed to make a call during a match between Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The umpire had to intervene, and Wimbledon later admitted the tech had been shut off accidentally – a “human error” it said has since been addressed.
Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans defended the decision, stating, “When we did have linesmen, we were constantly asked why we didn’t have electronic line calling.”
The backlash reflects broader concerns about fully replacing human roles with AI. In April, German player Alexander Zverev posted an image on Instagram showing a clear AI error in another tournament. The incident highlights the growing call for a human-AI balance in sports and beyond.
