Centre Court roof puts rain breaks in Wimbledon folklore

The showers and fading light added extra drama to the five-set thriller won by Nadal 12 months ago but such episodes are usually an unwelcome sight for weather-weary Wimbledon fans.

Never again,promise organisers,will Centre Court ticket holders go away from the championships disappointed that they did not catch any tennis because the rain gods decided to play spoilsport.

“People have a lifetime ambition to get a seat ticket here on Centre Court and I always feel terribly sorry for them when it rains and they miss it,” All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie said.

While the roof will keep 15,000 visitors to southwest London happy on a daily basis,the other beneficiaries will be the millions of global television viewers who will be guaranteed live action from Wimbledon almost every day come rain or shine.

To do that Wimbledon has erected a 1,000-tonne concertina structure which unfurls at 20 centimetres a second. The two sections of the translucent roof take seven to nine minutes to lock together and turn the famous stage into an indoor arena,complete with bright floodlights.

The addition of lighting means matches will be played to the finish and not suspended overnight. “All the players are excited to see how it’s going to really work especially with the lighting as well and having 15,000 people in a stadium,” said Federer. “We appreciate it very much that Wimbledon has gone forward by mixing innovation and tradition.”

Some critics have suggested that building a roof over an iconic structure goes against the belief of a tournament which prides itself for upholding age-old traditions,such as implementing a predominantly white dress rule on competitors.

Ritchie disagreed. “If you are staging a global event,you need to move with the times and if that means we are able to offer live tennis,I think that is a huge plus.”

The Wimbledon Compendium has many pages highlighting how the weather has plagued the tournament. The author can now look forward to adding a section on ‘Days which have been completely rained off except on Centre Court’.

This is because if there is wet weather,non-Centre Court ticket holders will still be left in the cold as during the fortnight up to 20 courts are used at the championships.

There is,however,one scenario that could stop play altogether on the grounds — if it rains non-stop for four or five days.

While organisers have installed an air management system to remove condensation and stop the grass sweating,if the surface is unable to breathe naturally for a few days,it will become too slippery.

Andre Agassi,who was the first to play under the new roof at an exhibition last month,said: “I was really impressed with what I saw. That’s an environment that lends itself to some spectacular tennis.”

Let the show begin.

Fixing alert at SW19

A British newspaper reported that between six and 12 players entered into this year’s men’s singles draw at Wimbledon are being watched for match-fixing. The Independent,citing an anonymous source,said the list includes Russians,Italians,Argentines and Spaniards,but did not reveal any names. The International Tennis Federation would not comment on the report,and Jeff Rees,the head of the Tennis Integrity Unit at the ITF,was not available to answer questions.