3 Jul 2014

Call for change to Wimbledon schedule

8:03 pm on 3 July 2014

Wimbledon's schedule needs changing so players don't have to endure five-set matches on successive days, says top seed Novak Djokovic.

Traditionally there's no play on the middle Sunday of the competition but two days of rain threw the schedule into disarray, and raised the possibility of players having to play three best-of-five-set matches in three days to reach the semi-finals.

Djokovic believes the rules need to be updated.

While the French and US Opens are played over 15 days, the Australian Open lasts for 14 and Wimbledon is the only major where the action is spread over 13 days.

Organisers hope that plans to have a second retractable roof at the venue by 2019 will help alleviate the problem.