Women’s World No.1 Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo were the first players to play indoors following six days of continuous play without rain. The roof was then kept closed for Andy Murray’s match with Stanislav Wawrinka, despite the rain stopping. It ensured that the day’s schedule could be completed and resulted in the latest finish in the history of the tournament.
The match finally ended at 10.38pm local time, with Murray, third seed in the men’s draw, victorious in five sets. Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive of the All England Club, the members club that hosts the tournament in south west London every year, pronounced himself delighted. He said: “The roof worked exactly as we hoped it would and I’m delighted it is able to guarantee play for those on court and the millions who watch Wimbledon on television around the world.“
The roof, which closes at a rate of eight inches per second, is the latest part of a long-term development plan at the All England Club, the members club that hosts the Grand Slam tournament every year. This year has also seen a renovated number two court opened, to complement Centre Court and Court One, which was built 12 years ago.
As Ritchie recently explained in an extensive interview with SportsPro magazine, the installation of the roof was not a case of simply putting a lid on the stadium in case of rain. “Actually, what we’ve done is rebuilt the centre court from the foundations upwards – it’s a 1922 building so if you’re going to do the roof you have to redo the foundations. We’ve had to put in a lot of air management; humidity and air conditioning, which has had to be put in the early stages. We then rebuilt all the areas around it, which are either debenture catering or public catering, which we opened last year. The final culmination is the roof.“
For British broadcaster the BBC the roof proved a primetime ratings winner, with early figures showing an audience of 12 million at 10.30pm. It has liaised with the All England Club to ensure that home favourite Murray’s matches are scheduled for the late afternoon or early evening to maximise audiences. The broadcaster cleared its primetime scheduled to show the late-finishing match in its entirety - a tactic it is expected to repeat, if necessary, on Wednesday.
Nevertheless despite the apparent success of the roof, Ritchie summed up the mood when he said: “We’ve been waiting for it for so long - it’s the first time ever at Wimbledon somebody’s waiting for rain - but we’d still prefer the sunshine. It’s a historic moment in many ways, and I’m sure they all feel delighted to be here. We’ll be grateful if the sun comes back.“
Issued by SportsProMedia.com