Wimbledon targets using serve clock at 2020 tournament
FILE – A detailed shot of a serve clock is seen in Louis Armstrong Stadium prior to the start of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 24, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Mike Stobe/Getty Images for USTA/AFP
LONDON — Wimbledon is “highly likely” at the 2020 tournament to introduce a serve clock for players that debuted in Grand Slams at last year’s US Open.
Tournament CEO Richard Lewis detailed the timetable at a news conference on Tuesday which announced a near-12% raise in prize money for the July 1-14 edition.
Lewis says the clock would be “not a rule change, just a visible device on the court to manage the rule.”
Players have 25 seconds to prepare after a point for the next first serve. They are first warned, then assessed a fault for the second violation.
Wimbledon will have a 38 million pounds ($49.5 million) prize fund this year and give the men’s and women’s singles champions a 4.4% raise to 2.35 million pounds ($3.06 million).
First-round losers get a 15% raise to 45,000 pounds ($58,600).
Wimbledon’s No. 1 court will have a new retractable roof and increased capacity of 12,345.
