Soggy Wimbledon set to bring back People’s Sunday
AFTER a week of wet weather, the biggest backlog of matches in a decade has forced officials at Wimbledon to draw up emergency plans to bring back People’s Sunday.
Wet weather has forced officials to bring back People's Sunday
During the 130-year history of the championships, the middle Sunday has been used for play only three times in 1991, 1997 and 2004.
People’s Sunday has proved hugely popular with ordinary tennis fans as tickets cannot be bought in advance and matches have been played amid a highly charged carnival atmosphere.
Rain once again caused havoc to the schedule yesterday, with barely any play possible before 3pm.
Only matches played under the Centre Court roof were uninterrupted.
Forecasting weather at Wimbledon
Rain has plagued the schedule all week
Bad weather has disrupted three of the first five days of this year’s tournament at the All England Club.
Wednesday was an almost total washout – just 18 of 74 scheduled matches were completed, leading to refunds.
It would be the first time matches have been played on the middle Sunday since the Centre Court roof was introduced in 2009.
Wimbledon is due to have a cover on Court One for the 2019 championships.
Matches will be scheduled on the middle Sunday for the first time since 2009
Wet weather has resulted in the lowest attendance in nine years
The tournament has failed to reach capacity on two consecutive days – the first time since 2004 – and attendance so far is the lowest for nine years at 155,845.
An All England Club spokesman said: “It’s absolutely the weather.”