Tennis stars stopped by the rain
Zverev’s opening match at Wimbledon has been cancelled
7/4/2023 6:28 p.m
Roger Federer is allowed to celebrate in the dry, but away from Wimbledon’s Center Court it is one thing above all: wet. The English weather causes numerous cancellations on the uncovered courts of the tennis classic. In addition to Alexander Zverev, four other Germans are affected.
Second day, and rain again at Wimbledon. Earlier than day one, and more lasting at that. That’s why all the Germans who were scheduled had to wait, with little chance of an assignment, because: Alexander Zverev, Tatjana Maria, Jule Niemeier, Tamara Korpatsch and Yannick Hanfmann were all scheduled for places that don’t have a roof – there is only one of the rainproof variety two on the grounds of the All England Club.
In the course of the afternoon the cancellations then trickled in. Tatjana Maria first found out that her first round match on Court 18 would not take place, a little later it was also clear to Zverev and Niemeier: They will be able to play their opening duels on Wednesday at the earliest, rain is not predicted. The same applies to the continuation of Hanfmann’s fifth set against Taylor Fritz. The match was interrupted on Monday due to darkness.
Under the roof of the Center Court, Roger Federer was first applauded – he was invited to his first of a total of eight individual titles in Wimbledon 20 years ago. And so, after a 100-second video, he took his place in the cream-colored suit alongside Princess Kate, both talking animatedly at times, while down on the lawn, Elena Rybakina began her title defense.
Alcaraz solves the first round task confidently
Rybakina, who dropped out of the French Open due to a viral disease, prevailed 4: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2 against Shelby Rogers from the USA after initial difficulties. Shortly before 3:00 p.m. local time, ten matches were already canceled during their match, including that of Maria.
Carlos Alcaraz was one of the lucky players because he was playing on one of the two covered courts. The 20-year-old world number one defeated the 16-year-old Jeremy Chardy from France on Court 1 in 1:53 hours 6:0, 6:2, 7:5. The Spaniard would be a possible opponent for Zverev in the round of 16. His match was scheduled fourth on Court 3, with little prospect of it being held anyway.
However, they are tried and tested in dealing with the rain at the All England Club. A first relief was the introduction of tarpaulins in the squares in 1971. In 2009, the center court was first covered, in 2019 Court 1. Since then there has not been a day without matches like last time in 2004. At that time, the first Wednesday and the first Saturday were completely canceled as match days.
However: Even a roof doesn’t always help when things get violent. In 2016, for example, the game-free so-called “Middle Sunday” had to be sacrificed in order to be able to pull through the program. Since last year, games have always been played on this day in order to straighten out the schedule. In the first week of the tournament, 365 matches are usually played without rain.