Wimbledon chiefs are to scrap the 'Middle Sunday' day off at the championships – and prize money for this year's tournament looks certain to be slashed.
The announcements came on the day the All England Club revealed it received £180million in insurance pay-outs after last year's tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, of which around £36million went to the Lawn Tennis Association.
Chairman Ian Hewitt said that from 2022 the Sunday at the end of the first week would become "a permanent part of our tournament schedule and we will become a 14-day tournament", with the move signalling the imminent end of 'Manic Monday', when every fourth-round match was squeezed into a packed schedule.
That is regarded by many as the most exhilarating day of the tennis year, although others consider it too busy, given the number of standout matches taking place.
From next year, those matches are now set to be split across the previously fallow Sunday and the second Monday or the championships.
Hewitt said: "Yes, that second Monday of course was popular with many, but it did create significant challenges. I'm not sure it really did full justice to that day's tennis.
"To be able to spread over two days does more justice to the play at that event."
He said the tournament should "be more accessible" on that weekend, with the Sunday having previously been given over to allowing groundstaff to have time to tend the courts, which can be in need of repair after the first six days of play.
"We are now confident we will be able to look after the courts, most particularly Centre Court, without a full day of rest," Hewitt said.
He said this year's tournament "will be different from Wimbledon as we know it", and organisers are currently planning for a 25 per cent capacity attendance, albeit still hoping to get the go-ahead to admit more spectators.
When play has happened on the middle Sunday in the past, typically due to a backlog caused by several days of rain meaning the tournament has fallen behind schedule, tickets have been made available to the general public and that has led to a vibrant, often more raucous, atmosphere.
Hewitt though signalled that would not be the ticket policy going forward, saying: "It's unlikely it's going to be like Middle Sundays in the past."
The 2021 prize money for players, who must remain in a bubble during the tournament and will not be allowed to rent private houses in London, is set to hinge on how many spectators Wimbledon is allowed to accommodate. A significantly reduced attendance would hit the event hard in the pocket, meaning prize money at the level of previous years would be impractical.
It paid out £38million to players in 2019, with the men's and women's singles champions, Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep, each picking up £2.35million
The players may only learn the 2021 prize fund a matter of days before the tournament begins, with no decision expected until June. Wimbledon begins on June 28.
"It is premature to make a judgement," Hewitt said, when asked about the prize money.
Chief executive Sally Bolton said Wimbledon was "absolutely determined to be back in style" and "to bring back sport and sporting events in the way that we know them", but pandemic considerations are limiting what it can achieve.
It has not yet been decided whether spectators will need to wear face coverings while watching matches, even though restrictions on normal life in the UK are due to be lifted on June 21.
Bolton said players may feel some "frustration" given their freedom of movement will be restrained, pointing to the "single environment" for competitors being a decision reached on the basis of dialogue with the UK government and Public Health England.
Pegula, Gauff and Rybakina highlight second-round winners at the Miami Open
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff headlined a great day for the Americans at the Miami Open as they both advanced into the third round on Thursday.
Pegula, who is the second-highest seed remaining in the field after Iga Swiatek's withdrawal, had no issue dispatching Canada's Katherine Sebov 6-3 6-1 in just 66 minutes.
Gauff, the six seed, followed suit as she raced to a 6-4 6-3 win over Canadian Rebecca Marino in just 73 minutes.
Florida's own Danielle Collins thrilled her hometown crowd with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 triumph against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova, and rising 22-year-old talent Clare Liu made it a perfect 4-0 sweep for the USA representatives by defeating Julia Grabher 6-4 6-3.
Last week's Indian Wells Open champion Elena Rybakina was made to work in her 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over Anna Kalinskaya, while an even more gruelling effort was required in Paula Badosa's two-hour-and-52-minute 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-2 result against Laura Siegemund.
The top seed to fall on Thursday was eighth seed Daria Kasatkina, as she won the first set before going down 4-6 6-2 6-2 against Elise Mertens.
Liudmila Samsonova, the 12th seed, made light work of Viktorija Golubic in a 6-1 6-1 drubbing, and 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko prevailed 6-3 6-4 against Mirjam Bjorklund.
Ostapenko will next play 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia after she won a strange back-and-forth contest 7-6 (7-4) 0-6 6-0 over Tereza Martincova.
Gasquet prevails in Miami Open first round to book clash with Tsitsipas
Richard Gasquet will get a showcase match against second-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of the Miami Open after prevailing 6-4 3-6 6-1 against Christopher O'Connell on Thursday.
The biggest names in the field learned their opponents after the 32 seeded entrant received byes into the second round of the Masters 1000 event, and Tsitsipas will be desperate to avoid a third consecutive loss after quick exits at the Rotterdam Open and Indian Wells Open in recent weeks.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev is waiting for Roberto Carbellas Baena after he blew away Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-0 3-0 (retired) in an all-Spanish showdown, while fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will meet Brazil's Thiago Monteiro in the second round after his 6-4 7-6 (8-6) triumph over Australia's Jason Kubler.
After O'Connell and Kubler both fell, Thanasi Kokkinakis flew the flag for Australia with a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (9-7) comeback against Belgian wildcard Zizou Bergs, and his reward will be a battle against Polish eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz.
France's Gregoire Barrere earned a big matchup against 11th seed Cameron Norrie after eliminating Roman Safiullin 6-4 3-6 6-3, and Safiullin's Russian compatriot Pavel Kotov will join him on an early flight home after going down 6-2 6-2 against recent Chile Open finalist Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Alcaraz tipped for dominant career but Murray 'wouldn't predict 20-plus slams for anyone'
Andy Murray believes Carlos Alcaraz can be a dominant figure in tennis "for as long as he wants" but cautioned against expecting him to challenge the grand slam records of the Big Three.
Roger Federer's haul of 20 slam titles has been overtaken by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who both have 22 majors, but those three are streets ahead of every other men's singles player in history.
Next on the list is Pete Sampras with 14 slams, which was itself a total that many once fancied would not be beaten for decades.
Murray was for a time part of a Big Four, until he got left behind by the relentless winning of his three great rivals. Federer has retired, but Djokovic and Nadal may yet have more slam titles in them.
At the age of 19, Alcaraz is already off the mark, winning the US Open last year, and he has jumped back to world number one after winning the Indian Wells Open on Sunday.
Djokovic and Nadal will be big threats to Alcaraz's hopes of triumphing at the French Open, but the young Spaniard is no longer simply the coming player on the ATP. He has arrived, and Murray is convinced Alcaraz is the real deal and poised to stay at the top of the sport for years to come.
"He has an excellent game, an all-around game that I think will translate well onto all surfaces," Murray said.
"He's not the biggest guy, but he can serve big. He's an unbelievable mover, great athlete. Has a lot of variety in his game. Takes the ball on a lot. That's something that you hope that he keeps.
"I know from experience that it's a bit easier playing that way when you're sort of 18, 19, and there's not any scar tissue there. I hope that he maintains that style of play because it's exciting to watch."
The prediction that Alcaraz can be an all-court player, and therefore succeed on grass as well as the hard and clay courts where he has already found success, bodes well for his prospects of stacking up slams.
Murray might have faced Alcaraz in round three at the Miami Open this fortnight, but the veteran Briton, a three-time slam winner and former number one, lost his opener on Wednesday to Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
There have only been two matches on tour between Alcaraz and Murray to date, both coming in the 2021 season when they won one each.
Alcaraz is the defending champion in Miami, and a clear favourite after crushing Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells title match. He brings a 14-1 record for the year into the tournament.
"He's obviously so far in his young career doing better than most of the guys that have come in the last eight to 10 years," Murray said.
"I know a lot of people are expecting everyone to win 20-plus grand slams now, like that's sort of normal. I wouldn't predict that for anyone.
"I would imagine he would be right at the top of the game for, well, as long as he wants to play."
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