Wimbledon is the only grand slam tennis tournament where there are rules against late-night finishes due to the tournament’s strict 11pm curfew.
Andy Murray’s 4am finish against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2023 Australian Open remains the latest grand slam match on record, while singles matches concluding well after midnight is not uncommon at the French Open and US Open, either.
The All England Club operates on a different set of rules, however, and has done so since the construction of Centre Court roof in 2009. A roof over Court No 1 was then completed in 2019, allowing play on two courts to be staged under the lights.
Wimbledon is based in a residential area, so the curfew exists out of consideration for local residents as fans travel home at the end of the day’s play.
So although the roofs on both Centre Court and No. 1 Court allow extra tennis to be played into the evening, there can still be disruptions of matches approaching the curfew.
When is the Wimbledon curfew?
The Wimbledon curfew is at 11pm local time (6pm ET) and has been in place since 2009 when Centre Court’s roof opened, introduced by Merton Council in order to obtain planning permission for the roof.
A statement from Wimbledon in 2018 read: “The 11pm curfew is a Planning Condition applied to balance the consideration of the local residents with the scale of an international tennis event that takes place in a residential area.
“The challenge of transport connectivity and getting visitors home safely is also a key consideration.”
What are the curfew rules?
The rules state that a match is not permitted to go beyond 11pm (6pm ET).
Matches that have been paused include Novak Djokovic against Rafael Nadal in their 2018 semi-final after the third set, having started at 8pm. Andy Murray’s last ever singles match at Wimbledon, against Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2023, was also held overnight due to the curfew.
Last year, Alexander Zverev’s match on Centre Court was paused after two sets while, more controversially, Taylor Fritz’s first round clash against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was suspended at 10:18pm with one final set left to play.
Fritz was furious to be dragged off court, and appeared to place the blame at the feet of his opponent afterwards: “They would’ve let us play if my opponent agreed to, I said I wanted to, he didn’t,” Fritz posted on Instagram.
Is there any exception to the curfew?
The curfew was pushed slightly back in 2012. Andy Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis with the clock striking 11:02pm local time. Murray was just one game from victory at 11pm.
Merton Council’s leader Stephen Alambritis commented at the time, stating: “flexibility and common sense prevailed”.
“We were in touch with the All England Club from 10pm onwards and there were discussions between our planning officers and the tournament director,” he said.
“We have always said these prearrangements were to be used with discretion, so I was pleased flexibility and common sense prevailed, because we have a duty to both the residents as well as the tennis.”
The next latest match to finish was in 2010 when Novak Djokovic beat Olivier Rochus with two minutes to spare, finishing at 10:58pm.
