Wimbledon’s head groundsman says this year’s Centre Court turf is standing up well to extreme temperatures after a dry spring and one of the hottest starts to the tournament on record.
Temperatures hit 29.7C on Monday, making it the hottest opening day in Wimbledon’s history, and rose further to 34.2C on Tuesday.
Neil Stubley, head of courts and horticulture at the All England Club, said staff were able to put extra water on the courts during practice week thanks to stable conditions.
“Fortunately, we’ve been able to put some extra water down,” he said.
“When you have short bursts of hot weather – we can handle that.
“The data that we’re collecting at the moment is pretty much telling us that they are within the ranges that we would expect for the start of Championships into day three.”
With climate experts warning that extreme heat could become more frequent, Mr Stubley said they are constantly preparing for what lies ahead.
“Whatever comes in the future, who knows?” he said.
“We’re very mindful of the predictions, with all the research that we do.
“In the future, if we feel we have to look at different cultivars of grass, we’ll pre-empt that sort of thing.
“All the research we do with our grasses, we’re now selecting grasses that are more drought tolerant.
“By the time we get to future weather patterns, we’ll be in the best place that we can be.”
Wednesday has finally brought wet weather to Wimbledon after two days of searing heat.
