7 of the 8 Gentlemen’s Quarterfinalists Get a Day of Rest Prior to the Final 8

Novak Djokovic or Kevin Anderson will not have a full day of rest before his upcoming Wimbledon quarterfinal match on Wednesday.  Sometimes this is unavoidable.  Darkness is a reality with which tennis courts without lights must deal.  Rain can delay play.  The problem is Novak and Kevin were leveled at 2 sets all at roughly 9 PM London time.  Had the Wimbledon officials closed the roof on Centre Court once the 4th set began on Court 1, a quick change of venues would have given these two competitors nearly 2 hours to finish their match before a local curfew kicked in and constrained play.

It is Only 1 Set of Tennis

Sure, the other quarterfinalists will hit and workout tomorrow.  They will expend as much physical energy as a player might expend in a routine 6-3 or 6-4 set.  Emotional energy in a fifth set is hard to replicate, but if this match has a routine deciding set, the winner should have time to rest right?

True, but Wimbledon like 3 of the 4 majors does not play a tiebreak in the 5th set.  There is no way to cap this 5th set showdown as going no longer than 13 games.  Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick 16-14 in the 5th set to claim the 2009 Wimbledon title.  No one wants to play 30 games and then face a rested opponent, but this might happen.  If this set reaches a double digit number for total games, the winner will be at a disadvantage on Wednesday.

It Won’t Rain. Will It?

It might.  Weather forecasts change, but the ones these officials had at their fingertips pointed toward rain.

Why not Finish It with Rain in the Forecast?

Wimbledon’s officials had a choice between moving the match to a new court as they did in the Monfils-Simon match or placing an indeterminate 5th set on court on a Tuesday with rain in the forecast.  The choice was pretty clear from my perspective.  Wimbledon’s officials should have made use of their expensive roof and lighting system on Centre Court and let these two worthy competitors have roughly as much rest and preparation time as their prospective opponents.  The means were there to finish the match and were not used.

I am sure many whys exist for this decision such as Simon and Monfils facing a middle Sunday but Anderson and Djokovic not facing that reality.  Other whys can be offered about finishing a match on the court upon which it started.  The why of tradition can and will be thrown out as well.  Still, these whys are to me all lacking in common sense.