Sweeping rule changes implemented for 133rd edition of tournament — RT Sport News

It's out with the old and in with the new at the All-England Club this summer ahead of the 133rd Wimbledon Championships, with several rule changes being instituted at the famous grass-court tennis venue for the first time.

While some things will never change at Wimbledon (strawberries & cream, champagne, an Englishman never winning...), the world's most well-known tennis tournament has adapted as the years have ticked on, and 2019 is no different.

What are the changes for this year? Court One for starters. The second largest venue at the championship has never been immune to the changeable British summer until this year, after a roof was installed to protect the court from the rain which has proved to be a constant hazard in recent tournaments. This means that matches can now continue uninterrupted until 11pm BST.

Another change from recent years is the introduction of a tie-break decider in the final set to stop the possibility of matches extending towards the incredible 11-hour-five-minute epic between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon 2010 which Isner eventually won by claiming the final set by a score of 70-68. 

This time around, if the score gets to 12-12 a tie-break will be introduced with the winner being the first person to reach 7 points. 

Wimbledon 2019 will also be a good one for the early birds, as each day's start time has been brought forward by 30 minutes to begin at 11am BST.

Tournament organizers have also committed to going green this year. Water bottles will be fully recyclable and made from recycled material, while they have also committed to using 4,500 less plastic bags than in previous years.

And, as noted by the BBC, Wimbledon will introduce more quad wheelchair tennis this year with both men's and women's single and double wheelchair tennis announced as part of the tournament structure.

Source: RT

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