Wimbledon to Back Up One Week on the Calendar

Written by: Staff on 20th July 2012

Wimbledon to Back Up One Week on the Calendar

epa03311494 Photo dated 24 June 2011 shows a general view of the All England Lawn Tennis Club Wimbledon during third round action for the Wimbledon Championships in London, Britain. London will be host for the 2012 Olympic Games which will take place from 27 July to 12 August 2012 and the Paralympic Games from 29 August to 09 September 2012. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Sense has finally been brought to bear with the All England Club’s announcement that an extra week will be placed between the French Open and Wimbledon from 2015 onwards.

Tradition normally rules most things tennis that go on at London SW19 and the world’s premier grass court event has long been locked into the last week of June and the first of July. . . even though it barely gives the top players a chance to clean the clay off their shoes from Roland Garros before getting to grips with playing on a lower bouncing lawn.

So in three year’s time Wimbledon will run from Monday 29 June to Sunday 12 July. Since becoming the All England Club’s chairman at the end of 2010, Phillip Brook has seen this move as necessary and he has finally got his way.

“The best interests of tennis will be served by allowing the players more time to recuperate and to adjust from the clay of Roland Garros to the grass at Wimbledon,” said Brook.

“All our research indicates that there is widespread support within the game for extending the gap between the French Open and Wimbledon and, importantly, we think most players will welcome the prospect of a longer grasscourt season and spending more time on the softer surface of grass.”

Brook appreciates there will be come derision about the switch and the BBC, who pay handsomely for the exclusive television rights in the United Kingdom, will have to give serious thought to the summer schedule in three years time with the Open golf set to be played at St. Andrews that year with only a week between the two massive events.

Wimbledon being put back a week may influence the North American hard-court schedule building up to the US Open, which traditionally starts on the final Monday in August.

“In making this change from 2015 we recognize that there will be some important consequences for the overall tennis calendar and enough time needs to be given to allow us all to plan accordingly,” continued Brook.

“In anticipation of the work required, I would like to thank our colleagues throughout the game for their enthusiasm and support for the vision of a tennis calendar that will better suit the needs of the modern-day sport.”

During the recent Wimbledon Championships defending champion Novak Djokovic made it clear he supported a bigger gap between the two European Grand Slam events.

“We need an extra week,” said Djokovic who opted against contesting either the Gerry Weber Open in Halle or the AEGON Championships at London’s Queen’s Club. “It would work in the favor of players because it would give the top ones a little bit more time to get used to the surface.

“Logically speaking, it is the slowest surface that we’re talking about, clay, moving to the fastest one, which takes time.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, All England Club 2012, French Open 2012, Gerry Weber Open in Halle, London SW19, Phillip Brook, Queens Club 2012, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon, Wimbledon 2015