He has pleaded with Wimbledon officials to stop scheduling him so late in the evening so he can put his children to bed.
But Andy Murray has become a victim of his own success, it seems, as the club has admitted he is too much of a crowd-puller to put him on any earlier.
On Thursday, Murray, 36, established a 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 lead against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, before their second-round match was postponed at 10.40pm due to the 11pm curfew.
The dramatic Centre Court clash drew in a peak audience of 5 million viewers on the BBC, which has exclusive rights to broadcast the championships.
Jamie Baker, the tournament director, said players tried to influence the schedule but Murray’s success meant he was allocated the peak slot.
“Every day, we get requests from players, saying they want this or they don’t want that, can they have this, and the amount of messages I get during the day, ‘Have you released the schedule yet?’ It’s like the one thing that everyone is just so obsessed with,” he said.
“With Andy, because of his success, there really isn’t a strong argument to put him on court in any other place when the most people have the opportunity to watch him. He’s a two-time Wimbledon champion. That is what it is.”
Murray, a three-time grand slam champion and a father of four, has complained about being allocated the last slot, which often involves matches being postponed, or disruption as the roof has to be closed.
But Baker added: “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out when our peak match is.”
On Monday, Sally Bolton, the All England Club’s chief executive, acknowledged that Murray’s popularity made him a prime-time draw. The BBC has previously been reported to have paid £60m a year for the rights to the championships and will want Murray on the last match to maximise prime-time viewing.
Bolton said: “Scheduling is one of those subjects that we all spend lots of time talking about and thinking about. It’s always challenging to try and fit all of the pieces of the jigsaw together. We think very long and hard about it, and there’s a lot of factors that go into it.
“There’s always balance to be struck. Andy’s of course a hugely popular figure, particularly in the UK, and so the ability to show him if you like at prime time in the UK is one that’s obviously hugely appealing.”
Murray defeated fellow Briton Ryan Peniston at about 5.45pm on Tuesday after he was scheduled second on Centre Court. “It’s still quite late by the time you get done with all your stuff,” he told reporters after the match. “By the time I get home it will be 8.30, 9pm … [But] this has been one of the earlier finishes over the last few years.”
Baker said when it came to scheduling, the most important thing was the integrity of the competition and “after that, we’re then thinking about audience, both on site and on TV”.
He was asked if the club would consider bringing the start times on show courts earlier to avoid disruptions. “We wouldn’t do it mid-tournament but it is something that we are constantly looking at,” he said.
