TENNIS: Unveiling of new Centre Court at Wimbledon:DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Rafael Nadal and Venus Williams cannot fail to be impressed when they walk on to Centre Court to defend their Wimbledon titles in eight weeks' time.
For a start, they will receive a bumper pay rise of €113,000, taking home €964,000 each, a 13.3 per cent increase on 2008 – if they can lift the singles crowns for a second year running.
And they will find a Wimbledon championship and a refurbished Centre Court arena, with its new state-of-the-art roof, that is defying the deepest recession in a century.
Wimbledon will not put a figure on the cost of the new retractable roof, which was unveiled in a closed position for the first time, revealing a surprisingly light, plush and airy arena, even if the white metal trusses and the fabric concertina do not exactly conform to tradition.
Tennis fans, however, have already voted with their wallets. Applications for Wimbledon’s public ballot are 20 per cent up on last year, while all 15,000 tickets sold out within five minutes for the May 17th test event when the roof will be closed and air-conditioning tested in a mini-tournament involving Tim Henman, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Kim Clijsters, which will be screened on BBC2.
The roof is bound to be the subject of most attention, although Wimbledon have no plans to play night matches, as in New York and Melbourne, nor to shut the roof unless necessary.
“We’d prefer to play outdoors,” said Ian Ritchie, chief executive of the All England Club.
“If we can, we would prefer to keep the roof open as much as possible. But, if we start with it shut, we will finish with it shut. The opening and closing is at the discretion of the referee, as at other grand slams.”
The structure takes around 10 minutes to close but it takes 30 minutes or so to stabilise the crucial airflow system.
This means some potentially tricky decisions for tournament referee Andrew Jarrett – such as whether to start with the roof closed if rain is forecast for later in the afternoon; whether to pull on the covers and sit out a potentially minor delay, or close the roof immediately if light rain interferes with a match.
Ritchie, however, is confident that Jarrett, a former Davis Cup player, can cope.
“It’s Andy’s fourth year and we are absolutely confident in him,” said Ritchie.
The roof will allow all Centre Court matches to be completed on the day and there is no restriction on what time play can finish. So, theoretically, a five-set men’s singles starting at 7pm could go on past 11pm.
Wimbledon chairman Tim Phillips also insisted there were no plans to use Wimbledon for other events such as concerts, which have been blamed partly for the problems encountered with the pitch at Wembley.
Lights to promote grass growth are located on Centre Court, and Phillips said: “It is difficult to say ‘never’ but the Centre Court is unique in the sporting world and our intention is to go on using it just for tennis.”
The chairman also denied there were plans to rip up the famous Wimbledon grass to fall in line with other grand slam surfaces. “The game is lawn tennis,” he said.
“It was invented as lawn tennis. We have got the inclination, the time and the resources to prepare the grass properly.”
He also defended the hike in prize-money, which sees the total pot increase by 6.2 per cent to €14 million with the biggest increases of 13.3 per cent going to those who reach the last eight, but even first-round singles losers taking home €12,000.
“It is the name players who drive interest in Wimbledon and in tennis,” said Philips.
“We are an international tournament and tennis is an international sport. Most of the players here don’t bank in sterling,” he said.
Wimbledon has signed a five-year extension to its sponsorship deal with IBM and a broadcast deal with Star Sports Asia, officials confirmed yesterday.
“In this climate, it’s a vote of confidence in Wimbledon,” All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie said.
“In the current climate, it would be foolish for anyone to be complacent, but we feel the strength of the brand is coming through and commercial opportunities continuing unabated.”
He said the capacity of the ground would rise from 36,000 to 40,000, helped by the increased seating on the revamped Centre Court and the new, 4,000-seat Court Two. “There is still a great appetite to come and watch Wimbledon,” he said.
Roof facts
- The roof takes 10 minutes to close.
- It is 16 metres above the court surface.
- The maximum time before play can start or continue after the roof is closed and the internal environment stabilised is 30 minutes.
- It would take 7,500 Wimbledon umbrellas to cover the same area as the roof.
- 1,200 extra seats have been installed.
- The total weight of the roof is 3,000 tonnes.
