Wimbledon Controversy, Protests! "Actions of a Huge Developer"

Wimbledon’s master plan for expansion includes an 8,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof and 38 smaller grass courts on a former golf course across the road from the current facilities. This would allow organizers at the All England Club to move qualifying matches there, like other Grand Slam tournaments, to boost attendance and revenue.

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The plans are controversial, however, among local residents who have taken a close look at them. They claim that they love tennis as much as the fans who flock to the courts every year, but their concern for the environment is dominant. They oppose the expansion of the tennis complex, which they describe as “industrial.”

"These plans are like a huge developer building, building, building on their own land," said Susan Cusack, a member of Save Wimbledon Park.

The group believes it has raised more than $270,000 to pay lawyers fighting the All England Club project, which Wimbledon organizers want to expand on the site of a former golf course they bought in 2018. In addition to environmental concerns, opponents point to the adjacent property being subject to open space restrictions.

The proposal will go to the UK High Court for review, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the singles quarter-finals of this year's Grand Slam tournament are played at Wimbledon.

The All England Club's biggest argument for the expansion is to host the qualifiers at Wimbledon and to expand the practice space. The oldest Grand Slam tournament is the only one of the four whose qualifying rounds are played in a completely separate location. There are also currently too few practice courts, which means that some of the top players are practicing simultaneously on the same pitch.

Now, organizers have 18 tournament courts and 20 practice courts. The expansion would more than double those numbers. Seven of the new courts would also be open to public use.

"Wimbledon must remain at the pinnacle of world sport and to do that we need to continue to thrive both on and off the court, with the infrastructure," All England Club president Debbie Jevans told AP.

Another argument is to attract more fans. Attendance at Wimbledon is lower than at the other three Grand Slams. The Australian Open sold 1.1 million tickets for the main draw this year, more than twice as many as Wimbledon in 2024. In Melbourne, more than 115,000 fans turned up for the qualifying matches. A total of eight thousand tickets are going on sale for the Wimbledon qualifiers, which are held nearly five kilometres away in Roehampton. Expansion of the All England Club facilities would allow for eight thousand fans to the stands during the qualifying, but... daily.

"If you look at other Grand Slam tournaments, they have side events in that first week... and of course the serious tennis. We always start with tennis, but yes, we want to be able to reach more people. The demand for our tickets is huge," Jevans added.

The 8,000-seat venue would become Wimbledon’s third-largest stadium, after Centre Court and Court 1, and would be located just across the road from the latter.

There are also plans for two public parks. British media report that the investment would cost around $270 million and take around eight years.

The idea is supported by leading tennis players. Serb Novak Djokovic, a 24-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments, including a seven-time winner in London, admitted that the expansion will allow the organizers to raise the event to an even higher level.

"It's great for the community, for the city, for our sport. Honestly, it's a win-win situation. If it doesn't happen, it's a shame," Djokovic said.

The winner of the last two editions of the tournament, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, agreed with him, admitting that moving the qualifications closer to the main tournament facilities is a great idea.

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