Now, a line judge has spoken out about the decision.

Wendy Smith, who has worked in the sport for 40 years and covered Andy Murray’s first Wimbledon triumph in 2013, believes chiefs should have informed them before breaking the news.

And she’s revealed her sadness at the decision to abandon tradition in favour of modernising the sport.

“I imagine the All England Club has made this decision because the players want the consistency of computerised decisions – though several of them didn’t like Hawk-Eye at all when it came in,” she told The Guardian.

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“But there’s so much that a human line judge does that a computer just can’t offer.

“We certainly keep up tennis’s traditions – I think we make the court look fully dressed. And spectators can learn a lot about the game when they can see the discussions between a line judge and the chair umpire. All of that will be lost.

“I’m not saying we never make mistakes – we’re human, after all. But we hold ourselves to a very high standard.”

She continued: It’s sad to think that I won’t have a moment like that again [seeing Murray win Wimbledon].

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“I won’t get to stand on Centre Court.

“And I wish they could have told us before this year’s tournament so that we’d have a chance to say goodbye.

“I’ll always love tennis, but I don’t think I could bear to go to Wimbledon now as a spectator.

“It just wouldn’t have the same atmosphere.”

Wimbledon is set to start on June 30 next year.

Carlos Alcaraz is the reigning men’s champion, having beaten Novak Djokovic in straight sets earlier this summer.

Barbora Krejčíková defeated Jasmine Paolini in the women’s final.