The All England Club confirmed today that the Wimbledon championships will be pushed back a week starting 2015. Well, it’s about time I say. The time between the French Open and Wimbledon is extremely short, with only a couple of grass court tune up tournaments between the two, certainly not nearly enough time to adjust and recover/repair.
The All England Club stated, “The change of dates will benefit the sport as a whole by creating a three week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon, a move which will allow the players a longer grass court season in the build-up to The Championships, and precious additional time to recover from the demands of playing Roland Garros and to prepare for Wimbledon.”
The chairman of the All England Club, Philip Brook said, “The best interests of tennis will be served by allowing the players more time to recuperate and to adjust from the clay of Roland Garros to the grass at Wimbledon. All our research indicates that there is widespread support within the game for extending the gap between the French Open and Wimbledon and, importantly, we think most players will welcome the prospect of a longer grass court season and spending more time on the softer surface of grass. In making this change from 2015 we recognize that there will be some important consequences for the overall tennis calendar and enough time needs to be given to allow us all to plan accordingly. In anticipation of the work required, I would like to thank our colleagues throughout the game for their enthusiasm and support for the vision of a tennis calendar that will better suit the needs of the modern day sport.”
In 2015 and beyond, the Wimbledon Championships will begin on Monday, June 29 and finish (weather permitting) on Sunday, July 12. The current dates run June 25 through July 8. I personally think it’s a great move from the tournament, though the issue of bad weather remains. The tournament is held smack dab in the middle of crummy weather. With this move, other tournaments will have to be shuffled around a bit.