Wimbledon chiefs appear to have overlooked comments made by the likes of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic by ruling that play will continue to start at 1.30pm on Centre Court.
The start times at the prestigious Grand Slam have raised questions in years gone by, with some players speaking out about how play does not begin until the early afternoon. That has meant that some longer matches have spanned over the course of two days given SW19’s 11pm curfew.
Djokovic has spoken over the past few years about why he believes changes are needed in regards to timings on the main showcourt, though his pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
The All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton confirmed: “Play starts at 1.30pm on Centre Court this year. It is fair to say the inclement weather we had last year meant this was a subject for much debate.
“We’re very happy with what we concluded. We’ve reviewed it, we’ve thought long and hard, looked at the data around the length of matches and the trends that are occurring in that space. We’re very confident and happy with the decision we have made.”
“We’re very comfortable with the fact we have one session instead of two and we’re very comfortable with the fact that we won’t have the situation whereby we finish early in the morning because we have an 11pm cut-off.”
Murray will certainly be frustrated by the decision, though his decision to play men’s doubles with brother Jamie is likely to mean that he will spend some mornings playing away from Centre and thus before 1.30pm.
