London - Profit-minded Wimbledon officials are laying the
groundwork for future night matches at the hallowed home of grass,
driven by the lure of a massive increase in television income.
Andy Murray's Monday win which ended at 10:30 pm to start the week
opened the floodgates, with the new roof and lights put to the test.
And now, officials are rolling back the vow that the event is
'daytime-only'
The payoff: up a reported 40 million additional dollars in
television income for the richest event on the calendar.
'It could go on all night, there is no limit or cut-off,' a
spokesman said of future matches. 'We will play to the finish -
whatever time that may be.'
And club boss Ian Ritchie also did a massive 180 degree turn as he
spun the concept of grass tennis after dark.
A day earlier, he told London media: 'I quite like it being a
day event. The advantage of having a roof is if there is one match
that is behind schedule, you can finish them.'
The master balancer then switched sides dramatically as Wimbledon
loses its identity as a unique event and morphs into just another
big-budget 'tennisathon' like the US and Australian Opens.
'The mantra is that it's an outdoor summer event, and we've been
blessed with sunshine, but if the circumstances dictate, that's what
[the roof] is there for,' London media reported.
Matches in New York and Melbourne regularly end after midnight
with the record a pre-dawn wrapup by Lleyton Hewitt in 2008 against
Marcos Baghdatis. Murray has complained heavily that the grass plays
completely differently with the roof closed.
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NOTEBOOK: Pubs prepare for bonanza at Wimbledon after-dark =
London (dpa) - Management of Wimbledon's genteel pubs were
salivating at the prospect of profits as the local council gave the
go-ahead for top taxpayer Wimbledon to play tennis anytime of the
day or night.
London media said that the Merton council which governs the area
of the All England club had no objection to post-midnight match
finishes and would duly license drinking dens to stay open for the
15,000-plus punters.
Nearly 20,000 flowed through the tree-lined streets of the SW19
suburb after Andy Murray's last finish against Stanislas Wawrinka
after 10:30 pm on Monday. But from 2010 that scene could become
commonplace.
BBC figures show that a near-record 12.6 million viewers at least
dropped in the Murray match via their sets. The all-time best was
13.1 for the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal 2008 final.
Huge American television money is also in the mix, with midnight
in London equating nicely to the start of prime time on the New
York-Washington east coast, when ad rates are the highest.
USA
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