The Year That Tech Changed Wimbledon

Tech is truly transforming Wimbledon in 2025. For the first time ever, the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world — which has been running for 148 years — replaced human line judges with AI-powered ball-tracking technology.

AI is also enhancing fan engagement, with IBM AI powering Match Chat and Likelihood to Win.

Match Chat is an interactive AI assistant fans can raise queries with during live singles matches and Likelihood to Win has been upgraded to now provide updated win percentage projections that change throughout each game, rather than remaining static during matches.

AI replaces line judges at Wimbledon

For 148 years, sharply dressed line judges have been a visual and cultural fixture at Wimbledon, assisting umpires with their split-second decisions.

This year, however, that tradition has been upended. The All England Club’s decision to implement AI-based line calling follows a broader trend in professional tennis, with the ATP Tour adopting full electronic officiating across all events to “optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces” and the WTA rolling out similar systems at many tournaments.

The system uses a network of high-speed cameras, computers and sensors to track the ball’s trajectory in real time, determining whether shots land in or out.

Unlike other tournaments that use standardised, robotic voices for electronic calls, Wimbledon has opted for a more human touch.

The voices announcing line calls are that of staff members — including tour guides and behind-the-scenes workers — ensuring each court has a distinct sound and reducing confusion between adjacent courts.

This emphasises the view of Thomas Sweeney, who oversees matches at tennis’ highest level, who says human officials will always be an essential part of the sport.

“There will always be that need to have a human to facilitate at the end of where technology has its limitations,” he says.

Enhancing the fan experience with IBM AI

Match Chat is an interactive AI assistant built on IBM’s watsonx platform that is available via the Wimbledon app and website, allowing fans to ask real-time questions during singles matches.

Whether the question is who has converted more break points or which player is currently performing better, the system uses Gen AI models trained specifically on Wimbledon’s editorial style and tennis terminology, ensuring responses are both accurate and in keeping with the tournament’s tone.

“We are committed to providing fans with the best possible Wimbledon experience, whether they interact with us through TV, radio, digitally or within the grounds,” says Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing and Commercial Director at the All England Club.

Likelihood to Win has been enhanced for 2025.

Previously, this feature provided static win probabilities, but now it offers dynamically updated projections throughout each game, reflecting player statistics, expert opinion and match momentum.

The system runs on IBM’s Red Hat OpenShift, enabling consistent, real-time insights across devices and locations.

These innovations are part of a 35-year partnership between Wimbledon and IBM, which has seen the introduction of heat maps, serve analysis and now sophisticated Gen AI experiences.

Read this feature in the August edition of Technology Magazine by clicking here.