Retractable roof unveiled at Wimbledon
The new roof at Centre Court
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Tuesday, 21, Apr 2009 10:44
Wimbledon's Centre Court had its new retractable roof unveiled today, which will mean play can continue up to 10pm.
In a project which cost £1 million and took two years to complete, floodlights have been installed alongside the new roof and bad light will no longer stop play. This will mean that the weather will no longer be an obstacle on Centre Court and play can continue well into the night.
The new facilities will be available for the Wimbledon championships this year, which get underway on June 22nd. However, greats of the game like Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters will test the new roof on May 17th.
"We could finish after 10 o'clock in the evening," said club chairman Tim Phillips. "The scheduling will still be the same as an outdoor day-time event, but there is no absolute cut-off time.
"Once a match has started with the roof closed, that match would continue and would complete with the roof closed. It means that any Centre Court match, once started, ought to be able to finish."
The roof on Centre Court takes 8-10 minutes to close and a further 20-30 minutes is needed for the air management system to create the right conditions.
Tournament officials will decide 45 minutes before play whether the roof needs to be deployed from the start of the first match.