Rain never fails to make an appearance at Wimbledon. But this year's downpour is comparable to what fell on Rishi Sunak when he announced the elections... Over 80 matches have had to be postponed or suspended under a relentless downpour of rain since the tournament began. In ten days, the amount of rain that usually falls in a whole month has come down, and spectators have decided it's better to stay at home than spend the day under an umbrella.
Weekly attendance has dropped by 4% this year (282,955 spectators). Friday, July 5th (with 36,630 tickets sold) was actually the day with the lowest visitor turnout at the All England Club in 26 years, except for 2021 with Covid restrictions.
"The weather has been terrible," attests the tournament's chief executive, Sally Bolton, forced to work miracles to be able to conclude on Sunday. "The perseverance of people in the queues has been commendable. Our goal is the highest possible audience, but at this point, we have to accept variability in the numbers due to the impact of the bad weather."
Bolton has denied the dissuasive effect that the withdrawal of big stars like Roger Federer or Serena Williams may have had on fans. "There is a lot of excitement about the changing of the guard and the torch being passed to players like Carlos Alcaraz or Coco Gauff," emphasized the chief executive at the beginning of the week.
But Coco Gauff is already out of the tournament, as is the local star, Emma Raducanu, which has significantly dimmed the spotlight on the women's final. The farewell of Andy Murray marked a small peak in attendance, but that was it. Djokovic's clashes with the audience and the elimination of Jannik Sinner, who arrived with the status of world number one, have also taken some excitement away from the men's category, surpassing the excitement in 2023 of seeing Alcaraz reach the top.
Celebrities have also been less present without the sun, with noticeably fewer sightings than in other years, with Princess Beatriz and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and actresses Sienna Miller and Salma Hayek keeping company with the usual Beckhams. The absence of Kate Middleton, undergoing cancer treatment, has been more noticeable than ever (her possible reappearance at the awards ceremony has not been confirmed yet).
The direct competition from the Euro Cup and the Formula 1 Grand Prix are also two factors implicitly recognized by Sally Bolton, who admits that tennis has had to fight its own battle with other sports that "compete for people's attention" (Djokovic lamented during the tournament the increasing pull that "paddle" is starting to have among lifelong tennis fans).
So, we can say that Wimbledon has had to deal with "a wide range of contingencies" this year, but the main one is undoubtedly the rain, despite the retractable roof protecting the center court and court number 1. The rest of the grass courts are open to the sky.
"Extending the tournament from 13 to 14 days has given us flexibility, but the truth is that weather variability is our main challenge," added Bolton. "Not even the apps can predict the weather for the next two days. Just when it seems to be improving, suddenly it changes and starts raining again."
The match that Spanish player Paula Badosa lost to Croatian player Donna Vekic (2-6, 6-1, 4-6) is an example of the daily bread at Wimbledon. The start was scheduled for July 7th at 11:30 in the morning. It finally started two hours later due to rain and had to be suspended three times, amidst constant uncertainties. The players ended up finishing past seven in the evening, in a state of continuous frustration.
Everything indicates that we will have to wait until the second half of July for the weather to improve in the British Isles. Perhaps then the jet stream will shift northward and the eternal clouds will clear. Given what we've seen, Wimbledon will have to wait at least another year to return to normal.