“We all want the start pushed earlier” Novak Djokovic unhappy with Center Court match timings forcing play under the roof on a slippery surface
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Novak Djokovic
World No. 3 and the top seed at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Novak Djokovic, recently addressed a common concern of all players after his 4th round win at the All-England Club that sees him qualify into the quarter-finals once again.
With the Center Court seeing the Centenary Celebrations yesterday, the matches were delayed on the court and the match between Djokovic and Tim van Rijthoven almost got suspended for the day with the remainder of the match getting scheduled on Day 8. Djokovic however wrapped it up quickly to get his day off on Monday.
“I don’t see a reason”: Novak Djokovic on timings of Center Court
The Center Court remains the only court to have the matches starting at 1:30 PM local time whereas the other court welcomes the players from 11 AM local time. Court No. 1 also has a delayed start with matches commencing at 1 PM. The result of this delay sees the final matches under the lights and mostly under the roof as well as turning the game into an indoor event.
“I heard there was some conversation. My coach has told me he has heard. I don’t know. I don’t know from whom he has heard. He’s been close with Tim Henman and some people from the club. I don’t know whether he has heard it from them. But he has told me there’s some talks about eventually approaching this issue a bit differently. Since there are some changes this year that we never thought we’ll see in Wimbledon, why not move it for half an hour, one hour earlier?
“I think it would be quite helpful to finish matches maybe not using the roof. Well, look, we know that Wimbledon has always been respecting its tradition. So the times when the matches start on Centre Court and Court 1 has not been changed for many years. I don’t see a reason why there wouldn’t be an earlier start, to be honest, particularly now that there are on-court interviews that we didn’t have up to a few years ago.
“Also the time between the matches, you almost certainly, if you’re scheduled last on the Centre, you’re going to end up a match under the roof, which changes the conditions, the style of play, the way you move on the court,” said Djokovic in his press conference.
“It’s really in an indoor tournament in most cases”: Novak Djokovic on playing under the roof on Center Court
Djokovic further explained the difficulties of playing under the roof. As the conditions change with the roof closed, the humidity and moisture increase making the surface slippery and with the wet ball, shot-making and player movement also requires a lot of changes.
“It’s more slippery. The lights. It’s really an indoor tournament in most of the cases when you’re scheduled last on Centre or Court 1, for that matter, as we saw last night with Tsitsipas and Kyrgios ending up the match quite late as well, and Nadal as well. Of course today it was a special occasion. I think it was necessary to celebrate the hundred years of Centre Court. For me it was an honour. I was very happy to be part of it. So, of course, it’s one of those unique moments that you get to live as a tennis player.
“I’ll cherish it, of course. But I think most of the players would probably agree that we would all want the start of the match on Centre Court pushed earlier,” added Novak further. The possibility of changes this year is unlikely but the initiation of conversation can lead to new rules in the next year’s event.
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Sarthak Shitole
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