The All England Lawn Tennis Club has made public the reasons why it decided not to move Novak Djokovic’s match with Adrian Mannarino to Centre Court.
The 2nd seed and three-time former champion had been scheduled third on Court One. However, following lengthy matches involving Johanna Konta, and the near five hours epic between Rafael Nadal and Gilles Muller it became apparent that Djokovic’s match had no chance of being completed on Court One today.
The lengthy schedule on Court One contrasted greatly with the day on Centre Court, as Venus Williams, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer all completed their matches in straight sets before 7pm, leaving the premier court in world tennis empty despite a match still be played in the day’s schedule.
The statement: “The safety and security of all visitors to The Championships is of paramount importance. The preference was to play the Djokovic v Mannarino match as scheduled on No.1 Court.
When that was no longer an option, it was determined the match could not be moved to Centre Court due to the number of spectators remaining in the Grounds.
As late as 8.30pm, 30,000 people still remained in the Grounds, and therefore moving the match would have created a significant safety issue.
Both players were explained the rationale of postponing the match until tomorrow, which is now scheduled for a 12noon start on Centre Court.”
Djokovic and Mannarino will now play their fourth round match on Centre Court tomorrow. Tuesday’s schedule, which has been moved forward an hour to 12pm to accommodate the match, is likely to be blighted by persistent rain throughout the day leaving some in doubt that the full schedule in the Ladies quarter-finals will be completed on time.
