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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, recognized throughout the world, and which brings complete satisfaction to the organization of the tournament,” it said on Monday.
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.
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.

LONDON: Al-Hilal won 3-2 at Nasaf Qarshi on Monday to make it two out of two in the group stage of the AFC Champions League Elite. The four-time titleholders were deserved winners in Uzbekistan but twice let their lead slip and had to dig deep to take the three points.

Despite a less-than-ideal playing surface in Central Asia, the Saudi giants had the ball in the net after just 90 seconds as Theo Hernandez slid the ball past Abduvohid Nematov, but the goal was ruled out for offside. 

The breakthrough came midway through the first half from a swift counterattack from deep inside the Hilal half. The ball was eventually worked out wide and swung in from the right by Abdullah Al-Hamdan. It looked to be a simple claim for Nematov, but somehow the goalkeeper missed it, and the ball bounced off his chest for the surprised Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to bundle home from close range. 

If that was an untidy opener, the equalizer, which came five minutes later, was anything but. Sardorbek Bakhromov picked up the ball well outside the Hilal area and then unleashed a rocket of a shot into the top corner to give Yassine Bounou no chance and get fans of the Uzbek Super League champions on their feet.

On the stroke of half-time, however, Al-Hilal restored the lead with some magic of their own. Again, there seemed to be little danger when Hernandez picked up possession outside the area, but then, somehow, he weaved his way past five players in red to shoot home.

Simone Inzaghi’s men continued to push forward but were left to rue their missed opportunities as the hosts pulled level on the hour. Umar Eshmurodov produced a defense-splitting pass for Javokhir Sidikov to find space on the right side of the area and then squeeze a low shot past Bounou into the opposite corner.

Al-Hilal continued to have chances. Kaio Cesar had a clear shot from inside the area but fired straight at the goalkeeper. Marcos Leonardo showed him how it is done with 11 minutes remaining. Milinkovic-Savic ran at the defense and found Leonardo in the area, and the Brazilian lifted the ball smartly over the onrushing goalkeeper.

This time, there was no coming back for Nasaf; indeed, Al-Hilal looked likelier to score next than the hosts. In the end, it didn’t matter as a valuable three points were collected.