WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

Progress on No1 Court

The No1 Court is in the second year of a three-year renovation project that will be completed in 2019. The fixed roof element of the court has been finished so all that is now missing is the retractable section. The area around No1 Court will also appear different this year, with a larger screen (18 metres wide) for Henman Hill/murray Mound/ Edmund Edge (?) and the opening of “The Walled Garden”, a new two-level public plaza where Court 19 used to be.

More prize money

The total prize money will be £34million, a 7.6 per cent increase on 2017. The singles champions will each receive £2.25million, up from £2.2million last year. There has also been a 10 per cent increase in the total prize pot for the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. The Championships will also see a 20 per cent increase in prize money for the wheelchair events.

Longer between points...

The time between points will be extended from 20 to 25 seconds this year, which will come as a relief to serial dawdlers like Rafael Nadal. The time will be monitored by the umpire rather than a shot clock, which the US Open will use later this summer.

... but a quicker warm-up

Players must be ready one minute after walk-on for the pre-match meeting, followed by the five-minute warm-up, then one minute to do final preparations before starting.

A new wheelchair event

This year will see the inaugural Quad Wheelchair Doubles Exhibition, which will be played on the second Saturday.