Wimbledon Calls Timeout on Middle Sunday
Published by Aaress Lawless on Jun 28, 2008 | Print |
One of the reasons why Wimbledon is adored by tennis fans worldwide is its time-honored sense of tradition.
The players always wear white, the strawberries are still served with cream, and the middle Sunday is traditionally known as a day of rest.
None of Wimbledon’s storied traditions–with the notable exception of unequal prize money–has encountered as much opposition as its policy of no play on the first Sunday (known as the middle Sunday) of the tournament. Rain is synonymous with playing tennis at SW19, and often the Grand Slam falls behind in the opening week.
Instead of holding an extra day of play, event organizers simply prefer to schedule more matches on the following Monday.
Officials were criticized in 2007 for not adding another day when the tournament fell behind because of rain delays. Fortunately, the Grand Slam still finished on time after playing over 100 matches on Monday, but not before the organizers received a tongue lashing from the press, fans, and players.
This year, the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s chairman Tim Phillips reinforced the decision to give everyone a much-needed day off.
“Play on the middle Sunday creates its own tensions in the future order of play and therefore at Wimbledon will continue to remain an emergency option,” Phillips said shortly before the start of the Grand Slam.
Play on the middle Sunday is such a last resort option that it has only occurred three times in the tournament’s history during the 1991, 1997, and 2004 Championships.
Will.I.AM | Jun 28, 2008 | Reply
It’s not fair to the fans because you work all week and miss so many matches, then the weekends come and there’e no tennis to watch! But I like the fact that the players get some much needed rest. It only enhances the quality of the matches.
The French Open should look into giving players that middle Sunday off because the clay is a lot tougher on the body and you can play through rain there.