Wimbledon keeps tennis centre stage ahead of European and World Championships

When Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the British general election would take place on 4 July, one of the Telegraph’s opinion writers wrote down his immediate thoughts. Election in July? Thank you Rishi, you’ve ruined Wimbledon, read the headline in the British newspaper. Standing in the rain to announce the election date was a quintessentially English scene that could have come from Wimbledon itself. This time, Novak Djokovic wasn’t there to mop up the damp.

Day three of Wimbledon also started wet, though it was nothing compared to the deluge that destroyed the current incumbent’s suit outside 10 Downing Street. More general elections are held on a Thursday in the UK than any other time. The Championships don’t move their schedule for anyone or anything, barring a global pandemic. Like Andy Murray, Wimbledon has earned the right to make the decisions.

Competing interests are part of the complexity of sports broadcasting, especially when there is a summer like 2024 when events cross continents and each other. Copa America, the European Championship, Wimbledon and Test match cricket all compete for attention. On Wednesday it emerged that the AELTC had held discussions with the BBC to agree on the timing of Murray's doubles match after the Scot withdrew from the singles.

The BBC reportedly wanted the match between the Murray brothers and Australians Rinky Hijikata and John Peers to take place on Thursday to avoid clashing with the live broadcast of the 2024 Euro 16 leg between Portugal and France on Friday night. However, the All England Cub preferred to give the 37-year-old extra time to recover from surgery on a spinal cyst. When Thursday's playing order was confirmed, the Murray match was listed as the third match on Centre Court.

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The BBC and Wimbledon have worked together for 97 years, so it's no surprise that they came together to solve the problem. It's the longest sports broadcast partnership in history and will last until at least 2027, meaning the only grass slam will be available for free for three more years.

There is no room for other sports to shift the timing of the SW19 fortnight. In 2019, the most compelling ODI Cricket World Cup ever at Lords between England and New Zealand was about to go into a sudden-death Super Over, just as Novak Djokovic claimed the Wimbledon title in an epic fifth-set battle with Roger Federer.

Two major global events tied together in London rather diluted the dramatic conclusion. “We are a tennis tournament. We will not be showing coverage of other sports on our screens,” a club spokesman said. There are no screens showing England matches in Euro 2024 at the Church Road ground.

In 2018, there was a real possibility that England would reach the FIFA World Cup final, which was due to kick off two hours after the men's singles final. Suggestions that the prized Centre Court seats would be emptied in favour of football were dismissed. “We are a sell-out event and there is a huge interest. There are absolutely no plans to change anything,” then-Chief Executive Richard Lewis added at the time.

England eventually lost to Croatia in the semi-finals, which may come as a relief to the AELTC who were surprised that FIFA decided to start the final so close to their peak.

Barring a repeat of the 2008 thriller between Federer and Rafael Nadal, when rain showers from in front of the roof contributed to a 9.15am British summer time finish, there will be no clash this time around with the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on July 14. Whether England make it or not is a non-tennis issue.

The UK election date also has no impact on the Championships. We have reviewed all of our operations and we do not believe the election will have any operational impact,” said CEO Sally Bolton. Tradition is what matters at Wimbledon and a combination of a general election, other sports and Independence Day will not change that.