Wimbledon to Scrap Day of Rest From 2022

Tennis - Wimbledon Preview - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2019 General view over empty courts. Reuters
Tennis - Wimbledon Preview - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2019 General view over empty courts. Reuters
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Wimbledon to Scrap Day of Rest From 2022

Tennis - Wimbledon Preview - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2019 General view over empty courts. Reuters
Tennis - Wimbledon Preview - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2019 General view over empty courts. Reuters

Wimbledon organizers announced on Tuesday that the traditional day of rest in the middle of the tournament would be scrapped from 2022 as they fine-tune plans for this year's event.

The tournament -- the only Grand Slam played on grass -- is returning this year after it was cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that has a day off during the fortnight but this provides scheduling challenges, particularly when there is bad weather in the first week.

At the tournament's spring press briefing, All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt said developments in the care of grass courts meant 14 days of play was now deemed possible.

The change means fourth-round matches, which have all been played on a packed day known as "manic Monday", will be held across two days.

"That second Monday was popular with many people but it did create significant challenges," said Hewitt. "I am not sure if it did full justice to that day's tennis and we feel spreading it over two days does it more justice.

"I think it is important for the development of the sport that Wimbledon should be even more accessible to those who wish to watch it."

England is on track to drop all Covid restrictions on June 21 after a successful vaccination drive, with Wimbledon due to start the following week.

Organizers are planning for a minimum spectator capacity of 25 percent at the event in southwest London, with the hope that this can be increased. Tickets are expected to go on sale in June.

"The reality we are dealing with is how to deliver a tournament under today's (government) guidance," said All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton.

"June 21 is a not-before date and as you can imagine it would be reckless to plan a tournament when one does not know what the conditions are going to be after that

"We are planning the tournament as of what today's conditions are but also capable of showing flexibility and agility if they change."



Swiatek Recovers from 0-6 Loss in 1st Set to Beat Keys in Madrid Quarterfinals

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
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Swiatek Recovers from 0-6 Loss in 1st Set to Beat Keys in Madrid Quarterfinals

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - April 30, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her quarter final match against Madison Keys of the US REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Iga Swiatek recovered after losing the first six games of the match to defeat Madison Keys 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 and stay on track to defend her title at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Swiatek was overpowered by Keys early in their quarterfinal but eventually found a way to rally past the fifth-ranked American on center court, The Associated Press reported.
“It was one of the weirdest matches I played,” the second-ranked Swiatek said. “Maddie was playing just perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. I let Maddie do more mistakes by just putting the ball back and the momentum changed.”
It was the first meeting between the two since Swiatek squandered a match point in the semifinals of the Australian Open that was won by Keys.
Swiatek is trying to reach her third straight Madrid final. She beat Aryna Sabalenka last year after losing to her in 2023.
Sabalenka, the No. 1 player in the world, later faces 24th-seed Marta Kostyuk in her quarterfinal match.
Swiatek hasn’t gone past the semifinals at any tournament since last year’s French Open.
It was the second consecutive day without disruptions at the Caja Magica tennis complex following a major blackout on Monday that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill and prompted more than 20 matches to be postponed.