Tim Henman insists that there is “zero appetite” so that Wimbledon begins on a Sunday despite the other three great chelems who all line up during their departure day.
The United States Open has announced this week That the last major of the year will start on a Sunday, extending the tournament from two weeks to 15 days. The Australian Open and the French Open also start on a Sunday.
However, due to the concerns about the state of lawn courts used throughout the Fortnight of the All England Club, Henman, a member of the AELTC board of directors, confirmed that Wimbledon would not follow.
Wimbledon only recently, in 2022, moved in a 14 -day tournament after choosing to withdraw the traditional rest day of “Middle Sunday”.
“It is to do with the courts,” Henman, a quadruple semi-finalist in Wimbledon on Thursday. “Middle Sunday was aimed at watering the shorts to make sure they were still alive for the last part of the tournament.
“All data and research show 80 hours of tennis in the central court. It was a big decision to go to 14 days. It worked well – the appetite to go to 15 days is zero.
“It is sure to say that 14 days for the championships are enough.”
In October, Wimbledon announced that Line judges will disappear from the tournament After 147 years, with the All England club adopting electronic calls.
On the decision, Henman said: “Wimbledon’s cornerstone are history, tradition and innovation.
“Each event on the ATP tour will have an electronic line this year, so if Wimbledon was to make the decision to stick to the line judges, it would have seemed very weird.
“I fully appreciate the ecosystem within online judges. Where do our referees come from? Where do the referees of junior tournaments come from? We all have to be aware of this.
“But when you look at the available technology, it’s absolutely the right decision.”
Henman, previously vocal criticism of the legalization of coaching, has also detailed that Wimbledon will not incorporate the segments on the side of the court for the players’ teams this year, as we see at Australian Open this month .
Outdraft coaching was approved by ITF for all the big chelems this year and although the coaches can advise players during the matches, this will be done from the usual players of players on the performance grounds.
“When the conversation was around coaching on the ground, I thought it was horrible,” added Henman.
“I couldn’t bear this. And to start, I was against off-fiery coaching because I always thought it was this individual fight, you have to work yourself.
“But coaching has always taken place. Now, because it is legalized, it is one thing less for the referee to worry. He can add to the public and for television. I appreciated it in Melbourne, but it will always be a little different from one event to another.
“On the external courts of Wimbledon, you can do the same thing. On the field fields, it will not happen because you have the boxes of players. But personally, I am very comfortable with that now.
Wimbledon 2025 begins on Monday June 30, with Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova the reigning champions in simple male and female respectively.
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