The US Tennis Association and the ATP and WTA Tours announced on Monday that tournaments in North America will begin using instant replay starting at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami on March 22.
This year's US Open will be the first Grand Slam championship to use instant replay to double-check officiating.
Hawk-Eye Officiating will be implemented in Miami, which hosts an elite men's Masters Series and women's WTA Tier One event.
"It's not only a way of better officiating, it's also a great way to stimulate interest and to retain the sense of strategy and jeopardy in the sport," ATP chairman Etienne de Villiers said.
"To me it was always crazy that with all this modern GPS technology, we could tell where a person is within to yard or a meter on Planet Earth, and yet we can't tell whether a tennis ball is in and out. So technology is going to help us do that," he added.
They system will be based on player challenges. Each player will receive two challenges per set to review line calls. If he is correct, he will retain the same number of challenges, but if he is incorrect, one will be lost.
In addition, each player will receive one additional challenge in tiebreakers, but challenges may not be carried over from one set to another.
"Introducing this technology will make our sport more TV and fan friendly," WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said. "Given the stakes in professional tennis, the ability to have more accurate line calls that can change a match is great news for players."
Gayle Bradshaw, ATP administrator for rules and competition, said that replays will not be at all intrusive.
"There's going to be two video boards on the center court that will be visible by the players, the chair umpire and all the spectators," Bradshaw said.
"Once a challenge is made, then the review official that's with the technicians, once he determines that the correct impact has been identified, gives the order to release the video to the boards. Then everybody will see the result at the same time. The entire process will take less than 10 seconds," she added.
Replay will be used only at the stadium court in Miami and just at the two biggest US Open courts, Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Court.
"As far as the US Open is concerned, we believe there's been a precedent set in connection with the use of Cyclops, which has only been used on four of the 16 match courts [to make let calls on serves]," USTA managing director of tournament operations Jim Curley said.
"We've discussed this with the players as well. They feel comfortable with the fact that the Hawk-Eye technology will only be used on a limited number of courts," he added.
The use of replay has the backing of several prominent current and former players.
John McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam winner turned TV analyst, has vociferously called for replay in his role as a broadcaster.
"If anyone's been listening to my commentary the past year then they know I'm in favor of using replay," McEnroe said. "I think it will make tennis more interesting."
Eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi, who turns 36 next month but still is going strong on tour, agrees.
"In my 20 years in professional tennis, this is one of the most exciting things to happen for players, fans and television viewers," Agassi said. "This new technology will add a whole new dimension to the game."
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