The Wimbledon Tennis Championship will have a very different look this year. The Centre Court, where all the finals are played, now has a retractable roof, which was tested for the first time this past weekend at an exhibition event. Here are a few interesting factoids:
- The roof is made of a lightweight, flexible fabric called Tenara that can fold up on huge trusses.
- It takes 10 minutes for the roof to close.
- The roof is 16 meters above the court surface, so only the highest lobs are in danger of hitting it.
- The air management system removes condensation from within the bowl and stops the grass sweating. Play can resume 30 minutes after the roof is closed.
- The fabric is 40 percent translucent but the roof will feature 120 lights so that play can continue after dark.
- The new-look Center Court has 15,000 seats, an increase of 1,200, all wider than the previous ones, and padded.
- Matches interrupted by bad light late in the day will be able to finish once the roof is closed and the lights switched on, meaning night tennis at Wimbledon is likely this year.
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