Wimbledon players criticise curfew and pursuit of TV audiences

Times

18 hours ago

Controversy over Wimbledon's curfew and targeting television audiences has reignited after the match with the fastest serve in the Championship's history took 18 hours to complete.
Taylor Fritz successfully replied to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard's 153mph serve on Monday night but was left frustrated when their match was suspended at 10.20pm with the fifth set still to play.
Fritz, the top American seed, is a big draw in the US so he was scheduled last on Court 2 to maximise TV audiences. The earlier matches overran so Fritz was moved to No 1 Court.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard hit the fastest Wimbledon serve ever at 153mph during his match with Fritz
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
Fritz in action
KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP
His match did not start until 7.20pm and at 10.15pm they were at two sets each. Both players were given the option to continue playing until the 11pm curfew, but Perricard, 21, opted to halt play and resume the following morning. Fritz won the match in only 35 minutes of play on Tuesday.
Fritz, 27, said after his win: 'I obviously wanted to play last night. That's just because I do feel we had the time to play the fifth set last night. We could have played if we both agreed to play … I was mentally in the head space of, we are finishing this match tonight.
'The idea of stopping wasn't even in my mind. I was fully tunnel visioned on this match is finishing tonight.'
Fritz protests after the match was suspended
MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES
On Tuesday evening, a late start to Novak Djokovic's Centre Court match, which was scheduled second, meant the American Coco Gauff was moved to No 1 Court. It was devastating news for the dedicated Gauff fans who travelled from America to be the first in the Wimbledon queue on Friday last week so they could secure a ticket.
Fritz said he would welcome Wimbledon following the lead of the US and Australian Opens by extending play to 2am or 3am. 'I would probably prefer to just have the late finish and then the extra day of recovery because I'd say physically this scenario that we did is better, but mentally it's much tougher,' he said.
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Tommy Paul, a fellow American player, discussed the issue with Fritz in the locker room. He said: 'Obviously Wimbledon is a place that has a lot of rules and are pretty strict on them. I don't think it's worth really arguing them. You're never going to win, so no reason to really get yourself bent out of shape.'
The All England Club has made clear that it will not apply to Merton council to extend the playing deadline.
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Kim Churches, 54, from Washington DC, said the delay was frustrating. She said: 'For players, this game is physical and mental. When you're riding that momentum as a player, you'd rather just keep going.'
She admitted the late matches benefited her when she watched the Championship on TV in the US. 'Time difference wise here [at Wimbledon],' she added, 'we just make sure we're caffeinated and we'll stay till the bitter end no matter what.'