Yannick Sinner saw off compatriot Matteo Berrettini after more than three hours on Centre Court as the pair almost hit the Wimbledon curfew.
Yannick Sinner and Matteo Berrettini engaged in a thrilling four-set match on Wednesday night, concluding just 27 minutes before Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew. The two Italians, who are close friends and Davis Cup teammates, were the final match on Centre Court. Their encounter, which could have extended to a fifth set and needed to be finished the next day, ended when Sinner won his third tiebreak set at around 10:30pm. Berrettini, a past Wimbledon finalist, fought back to take the third set 6-2 but couldn’t push the match to a fifth set, leaving fans anxious about the finish time.
Despite the late hour, the Centre Court crowd remained robust. The 11pm curfew, in place since 2009, is designed to respect local residents and ensure fans can travel home safely. The curfew was established as a planning condition when Centre Court’s roof was installed, balancing the needs of residents with the scale of the international event.
While the curfew has rarely been breached, it happened in 2012 when Andy Murray’s match against Marcos Baghdatis ended at 11:02pm. Merton Council’s leader at the time acknowledged that “flexibility and common sense prevailed.”
There have been calls to adjust the Wimbledon schedule to avoid such close calls. Currently, matches on outside courts begin at 11am, with Court One starting at 1pm and Centre Court at 1:30pm. Novak Djokovic has suggested starting matches earlier, at noon, to help avoid conflicts with the curfew. Andy Murray also supported this idea, especially after his 2023 match against Stefanos Tsitsipas extended into a second day due to the current scheduling.