Tennis: Wimbledon to keep to tradition with Monday start
Wimbledon have ruled out following the three other Grand Slam tournaments by expanding to 15 days.
The US Open confirmed yesterday that the final Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows will run for 15 days this year, with the men’s and women’s singles first rounds beginning on Sunday 24 August and the men’s final taking place on Sunday, 7 September.
Wimbledon only officially moved to a 14-day event in 2022 with the addition of play on its middle Sunday, which previously had only been used in the event of a large backlog of unplayed matches due to rain delays. The All England Club have no plans to expand further however despite the attraction of selling an extra 40,000 tickets due to concerns over the impact on its courts.
All England Club Board member Tim Henman revealed that Centre Court in particular is already being used to its maximum capacity.
“The appetite to go to 15 days is zero,” four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman said. “First and foremost because of the courts. It was a big decision to go to 14 days. When it was a 13-day event the middle Sunday was about really watering the courts to make sure that it was going to be still alive for the latter part of the tournament.
“And Centre Court is the one that gets played on the most because it’s used every day. We need to have it in the best possible condition for the final weekend.
“The research and data shows that you’re looking at 80 hours of tennis on Centre Court. That’s the sort of maximum, optimal amount of time. So it was a big decision to go to 14 days and that has worked well.”
Speaking at an event to promote his work for Sky Sports Tennis Henman expressed hope that Andy Murray would avoid following him into the media and continue coaching, tipping the former Wimbledon Champion for a future role with Jack Draper.
“I would have thought Andy would have liked a bit more of a project, a work in progress, if you were,” Henman said. “How early it was with [Novak] Djokovic, it was all a big surprise. Perhaps getting that opportunity to work with one of the greats of the game was too good an opportunity to turn down.
“I do hope that he coaches within the British game. James Trotman has done a brilliant job with Jack, so I am not in any way wanting him to move aside, but Andy has so much to offer. It will be interesting to see what opportunities there are and what he goes for.”
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