Wimbledon gets Sunday service
WIMBLEDON will rip up tradition by scheduling play on Middle Sunday for the first time next year.
The rules for this summer’s Championships are uncertain, with a “minimum” capacity of 25 percent and hopes for a socially-distanced Henman Hill. Ticket and prize money details will be announced in June.
But from 2022 the grasscourt Grand Slam will axe the traditional rest day and become a 14-day tournament like the other three Majors.
Play has been staged on Middle Sunday only four times – in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016 – after bad weather in the first week.
All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said: “We want more of this wonderful event to be available to more people around the world to share in the joy of the Championships.
“Putting Middle Sunday in our schedules permanently will help us to do that. It will be a new tradition and one we hope we will be proud of.”
The move will mean the end of Manic Monday, with the fourth-round singles spread over two days, allowing more ticket sales and TV coverage.
This year’s Championships will start on June 28 – a week after the final step in the Government’s roadmap to end all social distancing.
But players and their entourages will still be obliged to stay in the bubbles of tournament hotels – and fines or disqualification breaking the rules.
Bolton said: “Inevitably for the players there will be some face for frustration, but they really do understand what the tournaments are trying to achieve in keeping the sport moving and they’re buying into
these environments in order to continue to go about their jobs.”
Depending on Government rules, masks could be worn by fans on Centre Court.
Bolton said: “We do believe we would be able to come up with a solution to socially distance Henman Hill.”
The Championships were cancelled for the first time since the Second World War last year because of Covid-19. Pandemic insurance paid out £180million with £36m going to the LTA.