Article

  • Wimbledon insists it's still lights-out on night play

    5/1/08 2:55 PM | Mattias Yrgård
    - All England club officials insist that the 2009 installation of lights on the newly-roofed Centre court won't mean the dawn of Wimbledon-by-night.

    “We are still a traditional outdoor summer event and that is what we will remain,” assured club boss Ian Ritchie. “We will not purposely be extending to late hours.”

    Night matches have taken over and changed the ambience of the Australian Open, with all but one evening tied up on court. The folly of starting a match at nearly midnight was demonstrated in January when Lleyton Hewitt beat Marcos Baghdatis in a contest which finished around dawn at Melbourne Park.

    The US Open was the first Grand Slam to fall victim to the scheduling demands of television, which loves to air tennis under the stars.

    Wimbledon night play, while theoretically possible, is not desired on grass, with evening dew quickly making the lawns unplayable. This summer's edition will be the last without the moveable roof, with the superstructure already in place but not yet complete.

    Ritchie said that the lights will only allow matches already on court to be completed during summer, where light fails well 9 p.m.

    Wimbledon has also rejected calls to start as Paris does on a first Sunday, a pure market ploy designed to get more paying customers through the gates for a modicum of opening-day matches.

    “People already know when Wimbledon begins,” said an official.

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Comments

  • BernieEliza | 5/2/08 4:46 AM

    What a pity. Night play may allow for me to finally see the matches at a reasonable hour... the fun of living in the isolation of down under!!

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