Keep up equal play, say ladies as Venus and Serena Williams praise show court schedule at Wimbledon
Wimbledon has insisted that there has been no official change of scheduling policy, despite the surge of women's matches being played on the main show courts this year.
Venus and Serena Williams were among those welcoming the fact that the first three days of The Championships have seen an abrupt shift in the gender proportion of contests hosted on Centre and Number One courts so far in 2018.
By the close of play on Wednesday night, 13 women's matches had taken place on the two largest arenas, compared to eight featuring the world's leading men.
Venus Williams heaped praise on Wimbledon for the shift in women's matches on show courts
Her sentiments were echoed by sister Serena with 13 women's ties already on the main courts
While there have been a few late add-ons caused by matches finishing unexpectedly quickly, it is still a highly unusual ratio for the tournament.
The last time there were two back-to-back days when women's matches outnumbered men's on the main courts was the first week of 2016, but it has been a rare occurrence.
Venus Williams welcomed the change, saying: 'I was really overjoyed when I saw the schedule for today. We have a lot of equal play on the main courts in the other three Grand Slams. It was just fantastic to see Wimbledon also follow suit. It's wonderful to hopefully have that continue, to have equal for the men and the women.'
Her sentiments were supplemented by her sister Serena, who commented: 'I think it's wonderful.
For so many years it was just two men's, one women's. Now it's several women out there playing. I think it's a great opportunity. 'Just really proud to be here and play at a tournament that can recognize that.'
Recent research by novelist and tennis fan Mark Leyland showed that between 2013 and 2017 there were 71 women's matches on Centre and No. 1 Court, compared to 109 played by men in the same period.
A Wimbledon spokesperson denied that there has been a deliberate switch of policy, saying that each day was scheduled according to the merits of the marquee matches offered up by the draw, and trying to achieve the correct mix.
On Thursday, Wimbledon reverts more to type by putting four complete men's matches and two women's in the main stadiums.
Last week Tim Henman, who sits on the order of play committee, explained to Sportsmail the thinking of the All England Club:
'You are taking into account television requests, the marquee matches, which matches it is viewed the fans want to watch,' he said.
Wimbledon have denied there has been a deliberate shift towards scheduling policy this year
'It is not easy decision. There isn't a policy as such, it's done on a daily basis. You're doing a breakdown of the draw and the match-ups. There is definitely not a policy of two men's and one women's (on show courts).'
One factor that has certainly been involved this year is the absence of Andy Murray. As the biggest homegrown star since the war he has been a fixture on the main courts since 2008, having made the quarter finals or better every year until now. The so-called men's 'Big Four' is down to three this week.
Roger Federer took his obligatory place on Centre Court on Wednesday and was asked later if he was happy with the scheduling balance. Ever diplomatic, the Swiss gave a carefully evasive answer on a topic he knows causes controversy.
It appeared the matter had been of some interest.
He said: 'I actually didn't know about it until I walked off the court and I asked a friend of mine from the Royal Box, who is playing after me? You would think maybe there is room for more tennis on the court. But they know what they're doing, so it's all good.'
Roger Federer, who featured on Centre Court on Wednesday, was diplomatic on the debate
The All England Club is currently carrying out more research on what type of matches fans wish to see.
When it comes to the arbiter of market forces, the apparent movement towards gender parity in scheduling does not appear to be backed up by the asking prices on sites that trade tickets being sold by official debenture holders.
On Wednesday night a pair of tickets for women's semi-final day was being offered for £2,040, while for the men's equivalent it was £7,620. A pair for the women's final was going for £2,800 with the published price for the men's final being £7,980.
Whether this scale of disparity will continue when the generation of Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray are no more is a matter of conjecture.