Wimbledon is set to deny any changes to the starting time for play on Centre Court and Court No. 1, citing their broadcast deals as a reason for play only beginning at 1:30 PM local time. Wimbledon made the change to start matches on its two biggest courts, and that has caused both scheduling issues and controversy with a backlog of matches during the early part of the tournament.
Wimbledon now faces a curfew on play at 11:00 PM, and that proved to be an issue for the scheduling at the Championships this year with rain playing a part in early rounds. While matches begin at 11:00 AM on outside courts, the two courts with roofs only begin in the afternoon: several matches had to be carried forward into the next day, creating even more of a scheduling issue, with sometimes up to 5 matches needing to be completed on those courts in under 10 hours.
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Novak Djokovic brought up the issues with scheduling, and had called for a change to the schedule for the welfare of the players. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in. I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12:00. I think it would make a difference,” said the Serb.
{{/usCountry}}Novak Djokovic brought up the issues with scheduling, and had called for a change to the schedule for the welfare of the players. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in. I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12:00. I think it would make a difference,” said the Serb.
{{/usCountry}}However, the Daily Mail reported there would be no change forthcoming, as that would lead to money lost due to the broadcasting deals Wimbledon has with major broadcasters int he UK and abroad. A later start allows for a primetime slot for tennis, and moving it earlier would force renegotiations with the BBC and ESPN, Wimbledon’s main partners.
While the later start of play isn’t an issue as the tournament wears on, as Wimbledon can start hosting both doubles and singles matches on the roof-covered courts towards the final weekend, the tournament has faced plenty of criticism for its handling of schedules at this year’s tournament. For instance, Stefanos Tsitsipas had to play on four consecutive days, while Alexander Zverev didn’t start his second round until day 5 of the Championships, when some players had already completed their third round matches.
The direction Wimbledon will take in future years will be important to watch, with the organizers potentially having to make a call between the demands of their broadcasters and the wishes of the players negatively affected by their scheduling.