Wimbledon final delayed as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made to wait

The Wimbledon men's singles final has been delayed from its initially planned start time of 4pm on Sunday. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have seen their preparations hampered, with the pair forced to wait before emerging on Centre Court in front of a packed crowd.

The delay is speculated to be due to the women's doubles final going the distance, with Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens crowned champions after two hours and 23 minutes. They came back from set down and a break down in the decider to triumph 6-3 2-6 4-6 over Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-wei.

An announcement at the All England Club was broadcast on the tannoy confirming a new start time for the final walk-outs.

It read: "Just a message from the referee's office, the gentlemen's singles final will start at 4.10pm."

There has already been controversy over the time of the final, which this year was moved back two hours from the traditional start of 2pm.

All England Club CEO Sally Bolton said at the time that the decision was made to attract the "largest possible worldwide audience."

The doubles match had previously taken place after the men's singles final, but moved to an earlier time as a packed Centre Court crowd took in Kudermetova and Mertens' thrilling comeback.

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When the decision was made last October, Bolton explained: "We have adjusted the provisional schedule for the final weekend of The Championships with the ambition of improving the experience for all involved.

"The doubles players competing in the finals will have increased certainty over their schedule and fans will enjoy each day's play as it builds towards the crescendo of the ladies' and gentlemen's singles finals, with our champions being crowned in front of the largest possible worldwide audience."

TV viewing figures for the 2024 finals suffered a significant drop-off compared to the previous year. At its peak, Barbora Krejcikova's victory over Jasmine Paolini drew 400,000 fewer viewers than the 2023 championship match, won by Marketa Vondrousova.

Last year's men's final saw Alcaraz blitz Novak Djokovic in straight sets to retain his title. But 3.8million more people tuned in to see Alcaraz claim his first SW19 title the year before.

Any delay could have a significant impact on the final, especially if Alcaraz and Sinner go a long way to repeating their efforts at the French Open.

In Paris, Alcaraz came from two sets down to beat the Italian after five hours and 29 minutes - the longest Roland Garros final in history.

At Wimbledon, the Centre Court roof may well be closed and pose another delay, should they enjoy another lengthy and dramatic encounter. There is also, in an extreme case, the 11pm curfew to consider. A 2010 first-round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut famously took over 11 hours to be completed.