Wimbledon 'may change tournament dates' in major tennis shake-up
The tennis schedule is due to get a shake-up because of Billie Jean King.
The finals of the Wimbledon Championships could clash with a major sporting event with the tennis calendar set to receive a major overhaul. The iconic tournament at SW19 could be affected by the new proposals put forward by Billie Jean King, who wants the major events to fall in line with a new Premium Tour that will see male and female players receive equal pay.
The American wants the authorities to hold between 11 and 14 combined events. And the wheels are already in motion, with Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley and Unites States Tennis Authority chief Stacey Allaster holding talks with players in Melbourne during the Australian Open.
The potential new schedule will almost certainly mean changes to the traditional dates of the Grand Slam tournaments. According to the Telegraph, Wimbledon organisers will have to consider moving the Championships back a week.
This however could potentially affect viewing figures on the weekend finale. It would mean a clash between the women’s singles final and the third round of golf’s Open Championship, with the men’s final then taking place while players are battling out in the fourth round for the claret jug.
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It won’t be the first time however, that the grass-court event has clashed with another major sporting occasion. The famous 2019 final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic took place during England’s dramatic ODI World Cup final win over New Zealand at Lord’s, both of which were shown on free to air TV
The Australian Open also faces a potential dilemma. The opening Slam of the year could move back one week, which would almost certainly have a detrimental effect on spectator numbers as children would be returning to school during the second week.
The French Open may be brought forward a week, with the only concern being the cold night temperatures of Paris in the middle of May. One event that won’t be altered however, is the US Open, with the attendance boosted hugely by the event coinciding with the Labor Day holiday weekend.
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Tiley told the Telegraph that extensive talks have already taken place between the ATP and WTA also warned it’s no certainty that the plans would be adopted. “All the stakeholders in tennis have been working on a solution for the game. And it’s a journey to get to that point,” he said.
“The slams are very united in their resolve, but it’s a complex problem to solve. If it wasn’t complicated, it would have been solved already. These ideas aren’t new but what may be new is the motivation to give it a go, and to see if there’s that opportunity. But there’s never any guarantees.”