Sexism storm over Wimbledon's 'unacceptable' move
Kevin Anderson’s marathon victory and the bizarre stoppage of Rafa Nadal’s semi-final with Novak Djokovic, have led to a scheduling change that is sparking outrage.
A record-breaking day at Wimbledon ended with the second men’s semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic falling foul of the 11pm curfew.
After the epic six hours and 36 minutes semi-final encounter between Kevin Anderson and John Isner, top seed Nadal did not hit the first serve of his match against 12th-seeded Djokovic until 8.09pm.
That gave two players who have contested some of the most gruelling matches in tennis history less than three hours or the prospect of completing the match on Saturday.
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In the end, and to the surprise of no one, they did not come close to finishing after two hours and 54 minutes of play on Friday night.
The match will get back under way at 1pm, tournament organisers said, and it will be played under the roof again, given it began in those conditions.
Scrap that. Just been told that play will resume at 1pm tomorrow on Centre Court. The women's final, due to begin at 2pm, will likely be delayed #Wimbledon
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) July 13, 2018
That is likely to delay the start of women’s final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, which is scheduled to commence at 2pm.
News of the women’s final being moved to accomodate for the men’s semi-final was greeted with shock and anger by many, who argued tournament organisers could instead make the men wait to play until after the women had their match.
If you are Serena Williams or Angelique Kerber, no way they want to have Rafa and Novak on at 1pm when it could go another couple of hours and delay them. They are in the final, they deserve to have a set start time
— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) July 13, 2018
WTA insider Courtney Nguyen was especially furious about the the situation.
Unacceptable.
Absolutely unacceptable.
— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) July 13, 2018
SERENA WILLIAMS IS AIMING TO TIE THE ALL-TIME RECORD IN MAJOR TITLES JUST 4 EVENTS IN FROM HER RETURN FROM GIVING BIRTH & SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS & SHE’S TAKING ON THE LEGEND ANGELIQUE KERBER WHO BEAT HER IN A SLAM FINAL AND IT’S GONNA GET BUMPED BECAUSE BOYS
— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) July 13, 2018
i think they should play AFTER the woman final. Give the Women their due and give the boys more rest ….but i am NOT making the schedule.
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) July 13, 2018
It's dire when you gotta wait forever to play your SF in #Wimbledon.
But imagine playing one of the single biggest matches of the year in the tennis calendar and you don't know if you'll start at 2pm or at 4pm. That's awful for Williams and Kerber and awful for women's tennis.
— René Denfeld (@Renestance) July 13, 2018
Basically the schedule sadly is tough for all…. oh well this is Tennis! Either way what a day we have in store tomorrow
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) July 13, 2018
It's coming home.
It being "every day sexism."
— 𝒟𝒶𝓋𝒾𝒹 𝒦𝒶𝓃𝑒 (@DKTNNS) July 13, 2018
However, many tennis fans on Twitter agreed with tournament organisers, saying the men’s match had to get finished so the winner could be physically ready for their final with Anderson.
It’s not ideal but I think that’s fine – the men need rest tonight but can’t be on too late tomorrow because of their final – women won’t be delayed by much if anything (assuming not 26-24 in the 5th!) and both women in the same boat 🤷♀️
— Sara Evans (@saralmevans) July 13, 2018
I disagree. Only fair to the 2 men to let them get their match in first since one of them will play on Sunday.
— Christopher Levy (@tennis_shots) July 13, 2018
They should try to maximize rest for Nadal or djokovic but no reason they can’t put them on at 11
— Daniel Girdusky (@dang90) July 13, 2018
Only seven of the previous 51 meetings between Nadal and Djokovic had been won by the player who lost the opening set, so it was a major boost to the Serb’s hopes when he took the opener.
But world No.1 broke twice in the second set and fended off more break points to level the match.
