Andy Murray Says He Would Have Paid the Fine to Finish the Match

Written by: Resendiz on 3rd July 2012

Andy Murray Says He Would Have Paid the Fine to Finish the Match

epa03292683 Andy Murray of Britain returns to Marin Cilic of Croatia during their fourth round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 02 July 2012. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Andy Murray was so keen to get his late-night weekend Wimbledon match concluded that the fourth seed revealed he had been prepared to pay to play in the face of a local curfew which requires matches to stop – no matter what the score – at 11 p.m. (2200 GMT).

Murray made his revelation to London’s Daily Telegraph after scraping through with a victory against Marcos Baghdatis which ended at 11:02.

Local Merton council has a stranglehold over Wimbledon, with a contract which requires play to end at the witching hour, part of terms of usage for the Centre court roof which was completed in 2009. Without the curfew clause, the roof project world have never been approved, Wimbledon officials said.

“At 5-1, (fourth set) I was going to say that I would have been happy to spot any fine the club may get as long as we could finish,” said Murray. “But the officials seemed pretty relaxed about it all at 11 pm. I was just glad they let us finish.”

Murray’s reward for his winning effort was an exile to uncovered Court No. 1 and a match with Marin Cilic which was caught unfinished by Monday’s rain.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Marcos Baghdatis, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon 2012