Novak Djokovic Calls for Wimbledon to Reconsider Start Times Amidst Back-to-Back Matches.
Novak Djokovic, the defending champion at Wimbledon, has urged the tournament organizers to rethink their start times as he prepares to play for the third consecutive day. Djokovic is set to face Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, following his previous match against Hubert Hurkacz, which spanned over two days due to match suspensions caused by the 23:00 curfew.
Expressing his concerns, Djokovic suggested that starting matches at least an hour earlier, at 12:00, would make a significant difference in avoiding scheduling issues. He described the frustrating experience of waiting for seven hours for his fourth-round match to begin on Sunday due to preceding matches running long. Conversely, he faced a quick turnaround when the match resumed on Monday after Beatriz Haddad Maia retired injured in her preceding match against Elena Rybakina.
Djokovic expressed confidence that the tournament organizers would address the issue and seek ways to prevent such problems in the future. However, Sally Bolton, CEO at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, mentioned that an earlier start time for Centre Court in next year’s tournament was not guaranteed.
Djokovic, aiming to recover and be as fresh as possible, is set to face Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev, who had a day of rest after completing a five-set match in the previous round. Rublev, who seeks his first Grand Slam semi-final, recognizes Djokovic’s dominance on grass and is prepared to give his best effort against the seven-time Wimbledon champion.
