Centre Court roof sets stage for late-night drama

Epic matches on Wimbledon's famous Centre Court could turn into after-dark dramas after All-England club officials admitted the arena's new retractable roof means there is now no cut-off time to finish each day's play.

After two years of construction work, the roof will be available for use at the Championships for the first time when the tournament gets under way on June 22.

Winning at Wimbledon has always been as much a test of coping with delays caused by the notoriously bad English weather as skill on the grass courts.

But the roof, which is fitted with floodlights, will allow matches on the show court to be finished in one go and Wimbledon bosses have been given the go-ahead by local officials to play as long as reasonably necessary.

"We could finish after 10 o'clock in the evening," Wimbledon chairman Tim Phillips said.

"The scheduling will still be the same but there is no absolute cut-off time."

The concertina-style roof, made of a translucent water-proof fabric, will take between eight and 10 minutes to close and a further 20-30 minutes for the air management system to create the correct conditions to ensure the grass doesn't become dangerously slippery in the more humid 'indoor' climate.

It will be used in public for the first time at a test event on May 17.

Former Wimbledon champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf will join retired British number one Tim Henman and Belgium's Kim Clijsters, also retired, for mixed doubles and men's singles and women's singles matches played entirely under the roof.

While the roof takes Wimbledon into the 21st century, there are still complaints from players about the courts, with many saying the pace of the game has slowed too much in recent years.

Phillips insists that instead of moaning, players should follow the example of reigning Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, who adapted his natural clay style to the slicker lawns of south-west London and claimed a thrilling win over Roger Federer in last year's final.

"We hear what the players are saying. But it is a great test of tennis as we saw in the men's final last year," Phillips said.

"I think it reflects enormous credit on Rafa for the way he has adapted his game to grass."

Phillips also ruled out the possibility of changing the surface from grass courts to hard-courts, in line with so many tournaments, including the grand slams in Australia and the United States.