The schedule of this year’s Wimbledon finals has been altered with global tennis fans in mind.
Iga Świątek’s 6-0 6-0 dismantling of Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s women’s final came in double quick time, but actually took place two hours later than normal.
Both the men’s and women’s showpiece matches have traditionally been scheduled in the early afternoon with a 2pm local time start.
This year, however, that has been changed with the women’s final preceded by the men’s doubles final, which opened proceedings on Centre Court.
Why? The answer lies with the television audience worldwide and getting as many tennis-interested eyeballs on the biggest matches of the tournament as possible.
“We have adjusted the provisional schedule for the final weekend of The Championships with the ambition of improving the experience for all involved,” Sally Bolton, the All England Club’s chief executive, said in announcing the move back in October.
“The doubles players competing in the finals will have increased certainty over their schedule and fans will enjoy each day’s play as it builds towards the crescendo of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles finals, with our champions being crowned in front of the largest possible worldwide audience.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will renew their rivalry at 4.10 p.m. local time on Sunday, which is 11.10 a.m. EDT in the United States. Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens beat Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko in the women’s doubles final which kicked off play on Centre at 1 p.m. local time.
Tennis scheduling continues to be a hot topic with the timing of women’s matches at the French Open back in June a controversial issue and the tournament itself accused of turning down a request from Amazon Prime to broadcast Loïs Boisson’s fourth-round match in the primetime night session slot.
The schedule change isn’t the only alteration at this year’s Championships with line judges stood down for the first time in the tournament’s 147-year history.
Automated electronic line calling (ELC) has been in place for all main draw and qualifying matches putting it in line with the U.S. Open and Australian Open. The French Open still used line judges over the technology.
The introduction hasn’t been without controversy, however, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova losing a game in her fourth-round tie against Sonay Kartal after the system was accidentally “deactivated” mid-match.
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
