Novak Djokovic called for the match to start earlier on Center Court
London (IANS). 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has called on Wimbledon to reconsider its schedule and start matches earlier on Center Court as he prepares to play for a third consecutive day.
Reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the 14th time after a curfew-delayed four-set victory against defending champion Hubert Hercz. The Serbian will take on Andrei Rublev in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old was leading Poland’s Herkacz by two sets when play was suspended on Sunday night. The seven-time champion returned to Center Court 16 hours later and dropped the third set before winning 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4 over Herkaz.
Play at the All England Club begins each day at 1:00 p.m. (British Summer Time) on Court One and 1:30 p.m. on Center Court, with some matches suspended until the following day due to an 11:00 p.m. curfew. Let’s go
Two matches failed due to curfew and were pushed to another day. Besides Djokovic’s clash with Hercz, the other match to be suspended due to the curfew was Murray’s tight second-round clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The BBC quoted Djokovic as saying, “I think the matches can at least be moved forward to start at 12:00. I think it will make a difference. I think there are different ways and I am sure they will address the issue and try to avoid such problems in future.”
However, the CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Sally Bolton, has said that there is no guarantee that earlier start times on Center Court will be considered for next year’s tournament.
Bolton said, “The matches are taking place at a time when they are accessible to people. We are seeing (TV) viewing figures that are well beyond our expectations and beyond previous years. So, I think they are probably speak for themselves.”
The Wimbledon curfew begins at 11 pm local time and has been in place since 2009 when the new Center Court roof was unveiled, meaning no matches can continue after 11 pm. Matches will resume the next day at local time.
In a statement released in 2018, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) said, “The 11pm curfew is a planning condition implemented to balance the consideration of local residents with the scale of an international tennis event.” Is.
Transport connectivity and the challenge of getting visitors home safely is also an important consideration. In 2009, curfew was imposed to open the roof of Center Court.”
