Wimbledon targets using serve clock by 2020

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 1, 2019

LONDON (AP) — 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.

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WIMBLEDON FINALIST ANDERSON SKIPS FRENCH OPEN, CLAY CIRCUIT

Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Kevin Anderson is skipping the clay-court swing this season because of a lingering right elbow injury.

Anderson announced Tuesday via a post on Twitter that he is withdrawing from the French Open, as well as tuneup tournaments in Estoril, Madrid and Rome.

The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) South African, who is ranked No. 6, has been dealing with elbow issues for much of the year. He has played in only 10 matches in 2019, citing the elbow when pulling out of tournaments in New York, Delray Beach, Indian Wells and Acapulco.

“After discussing with my doctors and team, we thought the best decision is to rest and rehab my elbow injury for a few more weeks,” Anderson said. “I will keep working hard each day to get healthy again in time for grass.”

Anderson’s most recent appearance came at the Miami Open last month, when he made it to the fourth round before losing to Roger Federer.

The big-serving Anderson’s greatest successes have come on faster surfaces.

He reached the final at Wimbledon on grass last year before losing to Novak Djokovic and was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal on the hard courts of the U.S. Open in 2017.

At Wimbledon in 2018, Anderson edged John Isner in the semifinals by a 26-24 score in the fifth set. That match served as the impetus for Grand Slam tournaments to discuss adding tiebreakers for the final set.

At the All England Club this year, for example, a first-to-seven, win-by-two tiebreaker will be used when matches reach 12-all in the fifth set of men’s matches and the third set of women’s matches.

Anderson’s best showing on the slower clay of Roland Garros — where play begins on May 26 — has been making it to the fourth round. He lost at that stage four times, including each of the past two years.

He turns 33 next month.

His tweet on Tuesday called the choice to sit out the coming stretch of the tour calendar “the right decision for the long term in my career.”

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