FILE PHOTO: A logo is seen at the entrance to the International Tennis Federation headquarters in London, Britain January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
(Reuters) -Electronic Line Calling will become available across a wider range of tournaments below the Grand Slams and elite tour after the International Tennis Federation announced a new three-tiered classification of systems on Wednesday.
Previously reserved for elite events, ELC systems will now be designated as Gold, Silver or Bronze to broaden access to the officiating tool, with the move following collaboration between the four majors, the men's ATP, the women's WTA and the ITF.
Gold systems will be used at elite competitions like the Grand Slam tournaments, WTA and ATP Tours, Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup while Silver systems will cover second-tier competitions such as the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Bronze systems are aimed at national-level competitions. Silver and Bronze level systems are designed to be accessible for lower-level tournaments with smaller budgets as less infrastructure is required as well as no off-court operators.
"Systems that meet the relevant standards are awarded classification at the appropriate level and are eligible to be used in events sanctioned by the international governing bodies," the ITF said.
"The principles by which systems are assessed – accuracy, reliability, suitability and practicality – are the same at all levels. The new procedures unify the international governing bodies' approach to the evaluation and ongoing monitoring of ELC systems.
"Wider, more collaborative testing and sharing of results will ensure systems' accountability and high standards of ELC delivery across the whole tennis calendar."
First deployed as an experiment during the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in 2017, ELC was adopted more widely during the COVID-19 pandemic before eventually being used across all ATP Tour events from this year.
The Australian Open, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon have all replaced line judges with ELC, but the French Open has not done so yet as traces left by the ball on clay help umpires with decision-making.
While ELC is largely popular among players, it received mixed reviews at Wimbledon this month after the All England Club broke with tradition and adopted the technology from this year.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
