Richard Lewis, chief executive of the All England Club, said the tournament organizers extended “help where we can”.
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In 2013, Sharapova lost to Michelle Larcher De Brito in the second round.
Andy Murray’s mother Judy called for the “heat rule” to be allowed in the men’s game as she handed out coffees to people in the Wimbledon queue today.
Novak Djokovic, the top seed, found it less demanding as he beat Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets.
“I was actually talking about that in the locker room”, he said.
Kyrgios, the 20-year-old who’ll play his third-round singles match Friday, was wearing his trademark set of pink headphones when he was spotted peeking in on his pals’ match.
Djokovic is a two-time champion at the All England Club, winning in 2011 and 2014. He has made the second round at the Australian Open and the U.S. Open before however.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova keeps steamrolling opponents at Wimbledon. That’s why we put a lot of hours in on court and in the gym. Last year, he beat seven-time champion Roger Federer in the final. Spectators may need their umbrellas on Thursday, however, when there is a risk of thunderstorms. Isner, however, did not make the best of it, getting broken right back at love after a disastrous game that featured a victor, a forced error and two unforced errors.
Serena and Venus Williams have pulled out of women’s doubles at Wimbledon.
The third set was another serve-first cruise for Isner. The Croat has won all their previous four meetings, but their third round showdown will be the first time the two will meet on grass.
All England Club officials closed the Centre Court roof to ensure play would be able to start as planned at 1200GMT on the main show-court.
The covers were removed by 11.50am as the rain relented, with play due to shortly begin.
“Extremely high temperatures are forecast for today and because of this Network Rail will be introducing speed restrictions on various parts of the network, throughout the day”, the organization said on its website.
The moveable roof at Centre Court was carefully positioned to form a protective canopy over the royal box, which contained the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester among other specially invited guests.
National Hockey League star Henrik Lundqvist is among the guests invited to the Royal Box on Centre Court.
“This year we have an extra week between Roland Garros and Wimbledon”. Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of Prince William’s wife Kate, will also be in the Royal Box.
While rain may stop play at Wimbledon, such balmy weather apparently does not.
The apartment almost-directly overlooks Wimbledon’s No. 1 Court where you can see all your favourite stars strutting their stuff at the famous tournament over the next fortnight.
Afternoon temperatures were expected to reach 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) – considerably higher on court – and the public address announcers were busy warning fans to drink water, apply sunscreen and wear hats.
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To cope with the heat, players usually resort to ice baths after the match.
