Wimbledon faces calls to close roof amid London weather warnings
Wimbledon is facing calls to close the roofs of its main courts after several spectators fainted during Thursday’s women’s singles semi-finals.
Two fans collapsed during Amanda Anisimova’s win over Aryna Sabalenka, with another fainting during the match between Iga Swiatek and Belinda Bencic.
Temperatures reached over 30C in parts of the southeast on Thursday, with forecasts suggesting the mercury will rise to a similar level over the weekend, when both the women’s and men’s singles finals will take place. An amber weather alert has been issued for large parts of England over the weekend.
And ahead of finals weekend, fans have urged tournament bosses to break protocol and use the roofs to shelter them from sunlight.
Speaking to TheTelegraph, fans said that closing the roof is “not a bad option to avoid the sun”, pointing out that spectators “can be sitting there for several hours with the sun pumping down on you”.
Another fan urged the closure “as long as it doesn’t hinder the players”, explaining that “otherwise you get the experience of Centre Court and you’re sitting there wilting away with the sun in your eyes.”
“Wimbledon does draw in older crowds and they are the ones that will struggle. And you can’t control the seats you are in because the demand is so high,” added another fan.
The roofs on Centre Court and Court One were originally introduced to protect the surfaces from rain, though Iga Swiatek also encouraged bosses to consider closing them “if it would help”.
“From what I saw and heard at different tournaments, they’re usually not willing to close the roof when it’s not raining, when it’s not a necessity. I’m not sure why,” said the five-time Grand Slam winner after her win over Bencic.
“Maybe there are some rules or something. If it would help, then yeah, I think so,” she added.
The roofs take around 10 minutes to close, though the overall break needed to close them lasts around 30 minutes, as was the case in Jannik Sinner’s win over Gregor Dimitrov.
It is believed that the Bulgarian suffered a pectoral injury shortly after the roof was closed around 8.30pm, though his coach later played down rumours that his injury might have been caused by the timing of the closure.
