Novak Djokovic has won his last twenty-five matches at Wimbledon, hasn’t lost on grass since losing to Croatian Marin Cilic in the final of the Queen’s ATP Tour in London in 2018. He is chasing a seventh title, equaling William Renshaw y Pete Samprasto be one of the record of Roger Federer. He is a heavyweight in the All England Club, of which he is a member like the rest of the champions of this Grand Slam.
Wimbledon is the Serbian’s favorite tournament, 35 years old and world number 3, but he publicly criticized the schedule on center court. “And I think most players would probably agree with games starting earlier.”
Activity in the ‘Cathedral’ opens at 13:30 local time, normally scheduling three individual matches. When the day gets longer, the meeting in progress must be stopped to close the roof, an essential step to activate the artificial lighting.
“The conditions change, the style of play, the way you move. The grass is more slippery. The lights. It makes it an indoor tournament in many cases. That’s how we saw it with the match between Tsitsipas and Kyrgios or also in the case of Nadal (against Sonmego),” said Djokovic, who also experienced a similar situation against the Dutchman Tim Van Rijthoven.
Novak Djokovic’s slip on Center Court at Wimbledon, with the retractable roof closed
Nada pointed out that “I played very little time with a ceiling two days ago, difficult to assess. And the last time it was with Novak in a strange situation. I played with a ceiling and it did not prevent me from playing a good game, just like him. The other was a tad better than me. With a roof it’s a little bit more wet and the track becomes a bit more slippery. And Novak with Tim fell a few times, so it’s more slippery.”
Djokovic acknowledged that his situation in the round of 16 was anomalous “because it was a special occasion to celebrate the hundred years of the track”, an act that almost cost ‘Nole’ not to conclude his match since the game stops at eleven o’clock at night . It is a sacred rule for the organization in favor of the neighbors.
read also
read also
Djokovic reminds that Wimbledon is an outdoor tournament and not ‘indoor’. Another issue is when it rains, and the roof saves the day. “There are some conversations about the possibility of bringing forward the start in the central. That’s what my coach has told me (Goran Ivanisevic), though I don’t know who heard it from. I think we’ll see, why not start half an hour or an hour earlier? It would be useful not to have to use the roof for lighting, especially now that there are interviews on the track after the match, which didn’t happen before.”
Wimbledon has already ended this year with the tradition of the break on the first Sunday. The changes are not a utopia like decades ago. The lane 1, which also has a retractable cover, starts its program half an hour before, at one o’clock.
