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 Weather or not All England Club considers moving finals back a week
Posted: Tuesday July 06, 1999 10:07 AM
LONDON (AP) -- Wimbledon may move back one week and be staged during the first two weeks of July to avoid rainy weather and lengthen the grasscourt season. Although a change cannot be made in the next two years because of scheduling conflicts, it could happen by 2002, the Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday. The paper quoted Chris Gorringe, chief executive of the All England Club, as saying the move would allow a bigger gap between the French Open and Wimbledon, which are only two weeks apart. The players have to make a big change from playing on clay to playing on grass courts. Some players have bypassed Wimbledon because they can't adapt to the change. "Grass is our lifeblood," the Guardian quoted Gorringe as saying. "With an extra week on grass courts, players would find it worthwhile to spend more time and effort playing and practicing on it, enhancing its popularity." Until the early 1970s, three of the four Grand Slam tournaments were played on grass but the U.S. Open changed to clay in 1974 and then hard courts in 1978 and the Australian Open moved to hard courts in 1988. Wimbledon has stoically remained faithful to grass despite the problems caused by the rain. Moving Wimbledon back a week would take advantage of generally drier weather in the first half of July. The championship fell 150 matches behind schedule last week when one day was totally washed out and only a handful of matches were possible on two others. A move would also mean that players could prepare for the championship by playing an extra tournament during the buildup. At present, the grasscourt season is restricted to events in two weeks preceding Wimbledon and then the two weeks of the championship.
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