Wimbledon authorities are set to reject calls from the likes
of current world number two
Novak Djokovic and three-time Grand Slam winner
Andy Murray to make changes to the matches' start time at
the Centre Court.
The 2023 edition of the mega-event has been affected immensely
because of the poor, especially early on when authorities had to reschedule
more than 25 matches at one time.
Despite such radical steps, the management decided to unchanged
the matches' start time at the Centre Court, which led to criticism from different
quarters.
The defending champion Djokovic as well as the former world number one Murray also called
for a change of the start of Centre Court matches which usually began at 1 PM, especially
considering there was an 11 PM curfew rule in place which led to some of the
matches being postponed for the night and were completed the next day.
However, as per the latest report by the
Daily Mirror,
Wimbledon authorities are not ready to make any such changes and the schedule
next year is likely to be the same.
The report further stated that the management is unwilling
to accept any such demand as it will have an impact on their broadcast deals.
Murray was perhaps one of the most affected players because
of such rule as his second-round fixture against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas
was halted because of a curfew at a time when the former world number one was
in full swing and was leading with two sets to one.
However, the game turned upside down the next day as the current
world number five ended up securing a win in five sets with a score of 7-6, 6-7,
4-6, 7-6, 6-4.