Wimbledon 2024 weather forecast: What happens if it rains in London during tennis grand slam? | Sporting News India

Tennis fans will be hoping the rain that has already affected Wimbledon is the last the championships will see in 2024.

Qualifiers in Roehampton were briefly delayed five days before the start of the main draw after the weather intervened, but organisers say there is only a “small chance” of rain delays at this year’s tournament.

There were brief interruptions at Wimbledon 2023, none of which were a patch on the edition exactly a century earlier, when the final had to be played three days later than scheduled.

So, what happens if it rains at Wimbledon 2024? And what are the chances of major problems for organisers?

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Does Wimbledon have a roof on Centre Court?

A retractable roof was installed on Wimbledon’s iconic Centre Court in 2009 in an extremely complex work of architecture that involved 1,000 metric tons of steel.

There are 214 moving elements involved in the operation of the roof, which can also be adjusted to control the glare of the sun over fans and the Royal Box.

The roof, which is thought to have cost between £80 million and £100 million ($98m-$122m), started operating two years after an edition of Wimbledon ravaged by bad weather during the first week and three years before the Olympic Games visited London.

A £70m ($86m) roof was added to Court No.1 in time for the 2019 tournament. Its value was in evidence immediately when rain swept over a star-studded opening ceremony featuring the likes of singer Paloma Faith and Wimbledon legend Martina Navratilova.

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What happens on smaller courts when it rains?

Communications between match umpires and tournament officials are an ominous sign for fans that a match is about to be suspended because of bad weather.

If rain begins to fall in earnest, ball boys and ball girls are joined by ground staff to rush the covers over courts in the hope of avoiding the grass deteriorating while the players make a hasty exit.

It then becomes a case of hoping the weather will ease in time to allow play to resume while it remains light enough to play. If not, matches are rescheduled for the following day.

Rain delays are notorious for changing the momentum of matches in a sport in which impetus can be key.

In 2001, perennial British contender Tim Henman was leading by two sets to one against the unseeded Goran Ivanisevic before rain forced the rivals off for the day in the first of two rain delays.

Ivanisevic returned to prevail, eventually winning the match on Sunday before triumphing in the final a day later than usual in one of the greatest fairy tales ever seen at Wimbledon, as he became the first player to win a singles title at SW19 as a wildcard.

Wimbledon weather forecast 2024

The most recent forecasts for Wimbledon indicates a low chance of rain.

The opening day’s play will be partly cloudy, with temperatures ranging from 12 degrees celsius and 24 degrees celsius (53 degrees fahrenheit to 75 degrees fahrenheit).

There is a very small chance of rain on Sunday June 30th, but as it stands the chance of that is only 5%,

This page will be updated with more weather information when it becomes available for the rest of the tournament.

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Wimbledon tickets: Are there refunds if it rains?

Fans are entitled to a full refund of the face value of their tickets if there is less than an hour’s play because of rain on the court for which they have bought tickets.

The same applies for buyers of grounds passes at the turnstiles before 5 p.m. if the average amount of play on the outside courts spans less than an hour.

If there is more than an hour but less than two hours’ play, the refund amounts are reduced to half the total paid. Wimbledon say the referee’s decision on how much play has taken place is final.