LONDON (AP) — The All England Club isn’t worried about fans boycotting Wimbledon Because of England’s run in football European Championship.
Rain is a different story.
Attendance for the week was down 3.7% from last year after several days of rain interrupted the grass-court Grand Slam. First Friday attendance was the lowest since 1998, with the exception of the pandemic-curtailed 2021 tournament.
„The weather this year has been very variable and at times very bad, and I think at this point in our estimation it will definitely affect (attendance),” Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club, said on Monday. The tournament entered its second week.
With a total of 36,630 fans in attendance on Friday, rain delayed play for two hours and canceled outdoor games in the evening. Barring 2021, it was the lowest number for a First Friday since 1998 with 34,945, according to official tournament records. Last year the comparable figure was 42,279.
Pre-event sales at Wimbledon sell out easily, but day-of-sale tickets for fans are on hold. Popular line.
„It’s an important part of the Championship, primarily to protect access, so we accept that we add some uncertainty about the number of people going on the ground in order to maintain the order,” Bolton said. „Of course the weather was terrible.”
This year’s first-week total of 282,955 was 10,726 fewer than a year ago.
On Sunday, 5th seed Daniil Medvedev said, „I couldn’t warm up today before the match because it was raining.” He played on Court No. 1, which has a retractable roof similar to Center Court.
Contingencies include moving the juniors matches indoors if rain continues to disrupt play this week. The tournament has already reduced the preliminary rounds of mixed doubles to two sets and a tiebreaker, Bolton added.
England, who have advanced to the Euro 2024 semi-finals, face the Netherlands on Wednesday.
„I’m not worried about a football impact,” Bolton said. „At this point, I’m worried about more rain on Wednesday.”
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