Rome, Sept. 29 (LaPresse) – The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has announced that line judges will still be present at the 2026 edition of Roland-Garros. The Parisian Slam is the last major global tournament to retain the presence of line judges. The Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open have all switched to electronic line-calling systems.
“We are a federation where umpires and line judges work every day and, I say this with all humility, we are the best country for providing officials on the tour. We take pride in this, we have a strong training system. We are a benchmark and we want to stay that way. The federation’s will is to keep line judges as long as possible; right now, the players are driving the train. If one day they unanimously say: ‘We won’t play without the machine,’ we’ll see… But I believe we have a bright future ahead to preserve this officiating pyramid,” said FFT president Gilles Moretton.
At the 2025 edition of the tournament, 404 match officials were present, including 284 French representatives from all French leagues. These umpires and line judges are rigorously selected from around 30,000 officials in France, who officiate year-round across leagues, departmental committees, and FFT-affiliated clubs.