Dawn of night tennis at Wimbledon causes alarm

It was the latest finish in the history of these famous championships and has got traditionalists choking on their strawberries at what they fear could be a new era of night tennis.

One can only feel sorry for Djokovic's defeated opponent Olivier Rochus who was looking good for an upset against the number three seed when play was halted after three sets. Both players had to wait 30 minutes before the roof came over, the lights came on and the air management system kicked in.

By the time play resumed Djokovic had rediscovered his Mojo and the Serbian prevailed 6-4,-6-2 in the remaining two sets. Goodness only knows the wailing and gnashing of teeth there would have been had it been Andy Murray and not Olivier Rochus knocked out in similar fashion.

No wonder seasoned hacks in the press centre were fuming at the prospect of night tennis becoming a regular feature of this year's competition. "We've entered the realms of madness," chuntered one tennis writer.

Another pointed out that as darkness falling was a daily occurrence there was nothing to stop night tennis happening daily too.

There is an obvious temptation for organisers to stick on big names at say 6pm knowing the matches will finish that evening and draw big teatime audiences.

But do we want championships where players compete in a Centre Court that is effectively transformed into a soulless hall cut off from the British summer outside?

After all that epic final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal lost nothing in its majesty for the fact it finished in almost total gloom at 9.15pm in 2008. At the Australian Open the players go through the night and a unique sense of drama and place is lost. They could be playing anywhere and at any time in the world.

So the All England Club this morning moved, after some gentle prodding as they don't like issuing statements in this part of the world, to reassure people that we were not entering the brave new world of night tennis.

Last night's match finished at 10.58pm was just two minutes before the 11pm curfew which exists to appease the well-heeled Wimbledon locals.

I also understand that it is entirely at the behest of the All England Club to set their own finishing times and playing regulations. But by 11pm even the BBC highlights programme had long ended and viewers could only watch live play with their red button.

Officials have also issued a special Centre Court roof protocol which stipulates ultimate control of the roof will rest with the match referee. But the club's regulations also state that, "The Championships is an outdoor daytime event."

A spokesman for the All England Club said they would now monitor procedure for the rest of the tournament: "We are a daytime grass court tennis tournament and that fundamental principle has not changed.

"Play finished much later than normal yesterday due to the unusually late first round matches.

"We'll obviously continue to review procedure, but the operation of the roof and all relevant services works very smoothly."

Yes, the roof is a great idea when it rains. But we don't want dark nights of the soul at Wimbledon. The sun's out...why close the roof?