“I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12:00” – Djokovic would like earlier start at Wimbledon

The Serb had his fourth round match against Hubert Hurkacz suspended overnight due to the 11 pm curfew

Novak Djokovic at 2023 Wimbledon Image Credit: Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic

July 11, 2023

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic would like matches on the main show courts of Wimbledon to start earlier in the day to avoid situations where play is suspended due to the local 11 PM curfew.

Matches on Centre Court currently start at 1-30 PM local time and on Court No 1 at 1 PM local time, much later than the 11 AM start at other Grand Slam events.

Djokovic was among those impacted by the curfew rule as his fourth round match against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz had to be suspended after the first two sets, which the Serb won, on Sunday night. When play resumed on Monday, Djokovic advance don four sets and later spoke about the rule, which also affected the Andy Murray vs Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hurkacz vs Stan Wawrinka matches earlier in the tournament.

“I agree with that,” Djokovic responded when asked if he would like matches to start earlier in the day. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in. I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12:00. I think it would make a difference.”

You have to adapt. It’s not the first, probably neither the last, time that I get to experience these type of particular circumstances.
Novak Djokovic

The Serb, who will take on Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, gave a detailed answer as to how the rule impacts his preparation and routine before going on court.

“Once the time is over 8:00 (PM), you know that there’s a high probability you won’t finish your match. That was the case against Wawrinka and Hurkacz. Both of the matches started almost actually 9:00. It was 20 to 9:00 or something like this, or 8:30 that we walked out on the court. I warmed up for both of those matches around 1:00,” Djokovic said. “Should you go back to the accommodation, the house nearby, or should you stay. Yesterday I decided to stay. I stayed basically for seven hours waiting for my match to start. That’s a lot. You never know what’s going to happen. Today I’m thinking, I have at least an hour and a half. Then after 20 minutes, my match is called because there was a retirement in the ladies match before us.”

“It’s tennis. That’s the unpredictability of tennis in a way. You have to be ready for both scenarios. When I saw the matches that were played before me yesterday with Rublev-Bublik, and Swiatek-Bencic, I thought those matches could be long matches. But you don’t know that. You can only predict. It’s never a guarantee. It’s tricky, especially if there is a lot of players, members of the respective players’ teams, and they all occupy spaces for rest. It’s not easy to find a corner where you can just be by yourself. That’s okay. In the end of the day, it is what it is. You have to adapt. It’s not the first, probably neither the last, time that I get to experience these type of particular circumstances.”