Tennis fans ‘frustrated’ at Wimbledon matches being suspended overnight

Tennis fans have expressed their frustration at high-profile matches being suspended overnight and called for an earlier start time on show courts.

Matches involving Sir Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have both been forced into a second day because they have not finished before the 11pm curfew.

Djokovic joined fans in calling for Wimbledon to start play earlier on Centre Court after finishing his suspended game against Hubert Hurkacz on Monday afternoon.

He told reporters: “I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

Complaints poured in on social media after Wimbledon tweeted about the Centre Court showdown between Carlos Alcaraz and Matteo Berrettini, quipping: “Got plans? Cancel them!”

Neel Patel, who works for a software company and lives in London, was one of many who responded to the tweet, imploring: “Start earlier so they don’t hit curfew!”

The 41-year-old has been keeping up with the tournament on television and told the PA news agency that there have been “a lot of scheduling issues this year”, blaming the rain for forcing match cancellations.

He said it “makes sense” for Wimbledon to adjust the start time on show courts – 1.30pm on Centre Court and 1pm on Court One – to match the 11am start time on outdoor courts to avoid matches being forced into a second day of play.

“It’s bad for the audience and bad for players as well,” he added.

Of players, Mr Patel said the late nights and consecutive matches will “take a toll”.

Turning to spectators, he went on: “(It) affects viewers who are actually there who will have queued all day long. They got there, they are lucky enough to get Centre Court and they don’t get a complete result.”

He described feeling “a little bit of frustration”.

He went on: “More frustration if you support a player and that player has their match suspended and you know they aren’t going to benefit from that.

“If you supported Murray for example, him having to start the next day, that had a negative effect on him.

“Chances are he would have completed that match (against Stefanos Tsitsipas), kept his rhythm and he would have won.”

Also tweeting her disapproval was wedding photographer Sally Rawlins, who called the scheduling “incredibly disruptive” and similarly thought the tournament should bring start times forward to 11am, labelling it “poor decision making” from organisers.

She believed that the 1.30pm start on Centre Court was to accommodate a “debentures lunch” but the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is adamant that the start time has been set for a variety of different reasons.

“Certainly I have found it incredibly frustrating,” the 41-year-old from Essex said.

“I think Wimbledon needs to show a bit of adaptability.

“They have made huge strides by putting the two roofs on and obviously that is amazing but they are not going to be able to do that for all of their courts.

“When there is another dodgy summer of weather I think they are going to come in for some flak.”

Told AELTC is not committing to adjusting the start time, Ms Rawlins said: “For me that sounds very disappointing because it sounds very much of ‘we have heard what you have got to say but actually we have got no interest in changing’.”

Paediatrician Manish Kori, living in New Delhi, also took to Twitter to vent criticism.

“As a fan it is frustrating to not see matches finish,” he told PA. “I can’t imagine how tough it must be for the players. Early start is (an) easy solution.”

The 41-year-old has been livestreaming the tournament this year and has kept up with it every year since 1991 and said he has “never noticed this much disruption”.

AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton did not seem to view the issue of the late finishes as a particular problem, telling reporters on Monday morning: “Historically over many, many decades we’ve always started play on our show courts around early afternoon.

“And that’s very much about ensuring that people have the opportunity to get on court so, as much as is possible the case, we have full courts for when the players walk on, and that’s still absolutely our intention.

“And the other thing we think carefully about is, when people buy a ticket to come to Wimbledon, they want to experience a day at the Championships and that involves going and seeing some play on outside courts, perhaps going to get something to eat, getting some strawberries and cream.

“We understand that our guests want that whole day. Of course every year we look at everything and we get feedback from all of our guest groups, from the player groups and all of our stakeholders.

“We will have a look at that beyond this year’s Championships but that’s the real background to why we have the start time when we do.

“Matches are happening at a time when they’re accessible to people. We’re seeing (TV) viewing figures that are beyond our expectations and beyond previous years so I think they probably speak for themselves.”

The curfew is imposed by the local council to prevent late-night disruption from people leaving the grounds in what is a quiet, residential area, and Ms Bolton said the club would not look to try to extend it.

Some 16,000 more people attended Wimbledon in the tournament’s first week this year compared with last year.

According to the AELTC, 293,681 people visited the championships last week as opposed to 277,354 in week one in 2022.

Ms Bolton told reporters: “(I am) very, very happy that the championships is very much back beyond Covid.”

More celebrities turned up to SW19 on Monday including Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour, actors Tom Hiddleston and David Harewood and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

The weather held strong in south-west London with a day of consistent sunshine.