Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Sir Andy Murray, who together have won 11 Wimbledon titles, are united in their criticism of the tournament's policy on closing the Centre Court retractable roof. The controversy resurfaced during Djokovic's quarter-final match against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday evening.
Djokovic's Outburst Over Roof Decision
Djokovic, seeking a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title, erupted when tournament referee Denise Parnell ordered the roof closed at 7:40 p.m. local time after the second set. With sunset not until around 9:15 p.m., there was over an hour of natural light remaining. Parnell cited the need to avoid interrupting play mid-set, but Djokovic argued that the decision was premature.
“Why now? Why? The other day you didn’t want to close it until, like, 8.20, 8.30, and now you want to close it?” Djokovic said. “You don’t want to get to 8.30? It’s 7.40 now. We can play a whole another set. Outdoors. We are an outdoor tournament.” When Parnell referenced Jannik Sinner's match, Djokovic retorted, “With Jannik, I don’t care what happens. I care about our match right now.”
Nadal's Similar Frustrations
Rafael Nadal expressed similar discontent after his 2018 semi-final loss to Djokovic. Despite dry weather and ample natural light, the roof remained closed because the match had started undercover. “It’s an outdoor tournament,” Nadal said. “OK, we start indoors. What I don’t understand is, today, we could have started outdoors. Today we continued undercover because we started undercover. I don’t think it’s right, it’s an outdoor tournament. If the previous part of the match started with the roof on, there was logic, but I don’t understand why it had to be closed.”
Murray's Concerns Over Conditions
Andy Murray has also voiced objections, highlighting how the roof alters playing conditions. He noted that the increased humidity makes the balls heavier and leaves his hands too wet to grip his racket properly. Murray criticised officials for not communicating the decision in advance. “It’s tough when you’re warming up, getting ready for the match outside and it’s dry and then get told you’re playing under the roof,” he said. “In very few sports would coaches and teams be particularly happy if they don’t know exactly what time they are going to kick off or what the conditions are going to be like when they go out there.”
The three tennis legends, despite their on-court rivalries, share a common stance on this issue, arguing that the roof policy undermines the outdoor nature of Wimbledon and creates inconsistent conditions for players.
