Novak Djokovic has called on Wimbledon to revert to an earlier start time on Centre Court in a bid to avoid yet more late finishes.
The six-time champion managed to avoid the 11pm curfew in beating tennis’ Cinderella man in Tim van Rijthoven on Centre last night.
It was the latest in a series of late finishes created by the new 1.30pm start time on Centre this year and the lengthy on-court interviews and then 20-minute gap between matches.
But Djokovic, who dropped a set in beating his Dutch opponent 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, said discussions had already begun with the All England Club about moving back to an earlier start time for the remainder of the tournament.
“I hear there are some talks about maybe moving the beginning of the matches, the first matches on the big courts, especially Centre Court, a bit earlier,” said the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“I don’t see a reason why there wouldn’t be an earlier start particularly now that there are on-court interviews that we didn’t have up to a few years ago. I think most of the players would agree that we would all want the start of the match on Centre Court pushed earlier.
“Also, the time between matches, you almost certainly, if you’re scheduled last on Centre, you’re going to end up a match under the roof, which changes the conditions, the style of play, the way you move on court. It’s really an indoor tournament in most cases when you’re scheduled last on Centre or Court 1.”
Djokovic said his preference would be for action on Centre to start half an hour to an hour earlier for the latter part of the Wimbledon fortnight, and thereby trying to finish some late matches without the use of the roof on both Centre or Court 1.
The 35-year-old is likely to be back on Centre again tomorrow when he takes on Jannik Sinner, who knocked out Carlos Alcaraz in the preceding round, in what will be the Serbian’s 13th Wimbledon quarter-final.
Meanwhile, Nadal is the final match on Centre tonight as he faces van Rijthoven’s countryman Botic van de Zandschulp for a place in the last eight.
It is a repeat of their meeting from the French Open back in May when Nadal swept aside the Wimbledon No21 seed 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Looking ahead to the match, Nadal, who is on a quest for a clean sweep of the Grand Slams in a calendar year, said he expected a tougher contest against the Queen’s Club semi-finalist.
“He’s a player that has been improving unbelievable the last year,” said Nadal. “He was a good challenge in the French and I think he will be more here. He’s a complete player with a lot of great things and I need to keep going the way I played… playing aggressive and playing with the right energy.
“He’s a tough opponent but we are in the fourth round. That’s the way it should be.”
