Wimbledon’s late Centre Court start time explained as Andy Murray causes issues

Highlights from day 4 at Wimbledon

Wimbledon organisers have been playing catch-up this week after rainy weather disrupted the tournament’s schedule. Andy Murray’s showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas stopping before the 11pm curfew on Thursday night means an extra match is having to be squeezed in on Friday, although shifting Centre Court’s strict 1.30pm start time appears to be out of the question.

Many tennis fans have wondered why Wimbledon chiefs don’t simply allow matches to begin earlier than 1.30pm on Centre Court and 1pm on Court 1 until the schedule is back on track.

Persistent rain saw dozens of matches suspended on Tuesday, while more showers early on Wednesday also affected games on the outside courts. But the reluctance to change tradition on the two main courts at the All England Club boils down to hospitality ticket holders.

Those in possession of the lucrative tickets begin their lunch at midday, meaning an earlier start time for the day’s main matches would cause them to miss a chunk of the action.

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The tournament’s stubborn stance on Centre Court’s late start time, which is two-and-a-half hours after action gets underway on the outside courts, may cause extra problems on Friday after Murray and Tsitsipas were halted by the 11pm curfew on Thursday night.

Murray is two sets to one up on the Greek, and he has a reputation for gruelling five-set battles at SW19. Another long-running showdown would surely make it a squeeze to finish the rest of the day’s matches on Centre Court.

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Particularly with two other men’s clashes, which have the potential to go five sets, and Iga Swiatek’s third-round match against Petra Martic also lined up. Tennis fans have plenty to sink their teeth into this Friday as first up on Centre is world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard is expected to breeze past Alexandre Muller before Murray and Tsitsipas conclude their showdown. Swiatek is next up before reigning champion Novak Djokovic takes on fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka in a highly-anticipated match-up in south-west London.

“I like Stan a lot,” Djokovic told reporters after his second-round win over Jordan Thompson. “He’s a great person. Really always inspirational what he’s doing at his age. He’s almost 40 years old and he still keeps going strong. That’s something that not many people can do.

“After several surgeries on his knees, he keeps going strong and trying to create some more history for himself and tennis. We cannot forget that he’s a three-time Grand Slam champion and Davis Cup winner and also Olympic gold medallist. He had a fantastic career.”

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