The 2024 Wimbledon Championships have entered their business end. Top players across the globe like Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are still in contention, with an eye on the Wimbledon trophy. However, over the course of this event, players and fans have been welcomed by unfortunate climatic conditions. A similar case as some other big tournaments this year like the French Open, Wimbledon has experienced several rain delays, wreaking havoc in the tournament’s schedule. Earlier today, another big match was affected by heavy rain which didn’t go down well with the fans.

World Number 1, Jannik Sinner, is up against Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The match is being played on the Centre Court, which has a provision of roof. As a result, when rain was falling heavily earlier in the match, the roof was closed and the play continued. However, the sound of rain hitting the roof was so high that it caused quite a lot of disturbance in the stadium. So much so that the fans were barely able to hear the sound of the ball hitting the players’ rackets.

Some fans took to social media to vent their frustration as they couldn’t enjoy the match, which had some thrilling rallies. Some fans, who were present inside the stadium reported how high the decibel level was that they couldn’t hear the sound of the ball hitting the racket. On the other hand, a fan had a hilarious take on his time at the Wimbledon Championships, saying, “The worst decision I ever made – bringing sun cream to Wimbledon this year.”

Wimbledon introduced a retractable roof on the Centre Court, to avoid any interruption due to unforeseen climatic conditions like rain. However, the disturbing noise of the rain hitting the roof has been a constant issue, with both fans and players raising this. Earlier in this tournament, Carlos Alcaraz and Madison Keys’ matches also faced a similar fate on the Centre Court. Additionally, there is another big disadvantage of using the roof at Wimbledon, which was described by Andy Roddick.

Change in conditions at Wimbledon due to the roof?

Over the years, many players have found it difficult to adjust on the Centre Court as compared to the outside courts at Wimbledon. A big factor in this is the use of the roof on the Centre Court. Along with the sound, the grass also played differently due to the roof, as alleged by some players. During a podcast, Andy Roddick explained the disadvantages of using the roof in detail.

He said, “I only played under the roof there one time and it wasn’t at Wimbledon. It was during the it was during the Olympics. I lost to a guy named Novak Djokovic, like one and two on grass. Yeah, and I didn’t like it. I thought it the grass played much differently. The sound is super intense.”

Their match was at the 2012 London Olympics and Roddick felt that he was playing a video game due to the intense sound of the ball echoing in his ears. As a result, many players have condemned the use of roof here. Do you think that the disadvantages of the roof in tennis stadiums overpower its advantages? Let us know your views in the comments below.