The sun sets on the Wimbledon fortnight with just one match left to crown the men’s champion. On Saturday, Iga Swiatek lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, beating Amanda Anisimova to claim the 2025 women’s title. Now, all eyes are on the men’s final, where World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will meet No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz once again. Their fierce rivalry, which electrified Paris, now lights up SW19, the oldest Grand Slam since 1877. However, as the showdown nears, one tradition has seen a slight shift. But it seems like Jamie Murray isn’t happy with the change.

The Wimbledon men’s final is shaking things up with a 4 pm start, ditching the customary 2 pm start time. This late slot has fans buzzing, but Murray isn’t exactly convinced. Sure, the move now caters to US viewers, with the match starting bright and early at 11 am in New York. But Murray, a Wimbledon mixed doubles champ, warned that this tweak could disrupt the game’s flow and the fans’ vibe. Balancing global TV ratings with pure tennis magic? Easier said than done.

Speaking to Metro, Jamie Murray said, “They’ve obviously moved the final to 4pm for TV. I guess for the [United] States, I guess for the BBC getting a primetime audience or peak audience. That’s a big change.” The stakes just got higher—and so did the clock.

Murray’s biggest worry? That epic five-hour 29-minute marathon these two battled through in Paris could hit a snag under Wimbledon’s fading light. “That’s a big change. I think what would be sad about that would be if they had to stop the match to close the roof because of light and stuff,” Murray further said.  “It’s not right that I don’t think. But hopefully that doesn’t happen,” he sighed. Imagine the drama if the match pauses mid-rally because the roof has to come down—talk about killing momentum. All England Club CEO Sally Bolton weighed in: “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,” he further said.

“It’s about ensuring we have an improved experience for all involved. We believe we can give an outstanding outcome for everyone from the change. As with any change we make at the Championships, we are always reviewing the decisions we’ve made, whether they’ve worked, whether we can tweak them. So, we’re confident we’ve made the right decision, but as we always do, we will review that after this year’s Championships,” Bolton concluded. Notably, this comes amid a decline in television viewership for The Championships.

As per reports, the 2024 finals match between Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini had 400,000 less TV audiences, whereas the men’s finals between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic peaked at 7.5 million on BBC One, down from 11.3 million from the year before. However, when it comes to the US audiences, the 2024 event saw a “cumulative reach” of over 26 million, the highest since 2019. Not just that, as per Wimbledon’s official website, “ESPN’s coverage of the ladies’ singles final attracted just over 2 million viewers, a 40 per cent increase from 2023, whilst the gentlemen’s singles final had a peak audience of 3.2 million”. Well, looks like we finally understand why Coton was so keen on catering to people across the pond.

This isn’t the first time Wimbledon has faced a tough moment regarding viewership, though. The tournament’s start shocked fans as a record 23 of 64 seeded players crashed out in the first round, including top Americans like Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Frances Tiafoe. Sports podcaster Joe Pompliano summed it up on X: “ESPN can’t be happy with the early results at Wimbledon… Maybe another Alcaraz-Sinner final can save them.”

More so, the timings change represents another notable shift at SW19 this year, following the earlier decision to eliminate line umpires from the championships. Now, with the change in time slot, the doubles finals have been repositioned to precede the singles matches on both Saturday and Sunday.

With the tournament’s unpredictability in full swing, all eyes now hope this epic rivalry will bring the drama and excitement back to SW19.

The upcoming clash between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner promises fireworks. This isn’t just any match. It’s a rematch of their epic French Open final, the longest in Roland Garros history. But also, Alcaraz is chasing a Wimbledon hat trick, while Sinner, hungry for his first SW19 crown and second title this season, looks to bounce back after three tough losses post his three-month ban. So, what can fans expect from their match this time around?

Carlos Alcaraz to take on Jannik Sinner in a thrilling rematch

In Paris, Sinner dominated Alcaraz at the start of their finals showdown. Leading two sets to love and holding three match points on Alcaraz’s serve. Then nerves took over, and the Italian never recovered. It was a crushing loss for the 23-year-old, especially knowing this is Alcaraz’s best surface. Not to mention, the Spaniard holds the upper hand in their rivalry.

He’s won the last five encounters and leads their H2H with an 8-4 overall. Sinner’s only grass victory over him came in the 2022 Wimbledon Round of 16, but a lot has changed since then. This season, Alcaraz has been unstoppable, racking up five titles—including Rotterdam, Monte Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, and Queen’s Club—and boasting a 48-6 record. He’s coming off a solid 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) semifinal win over Taylor Fritz. Meanwhile, Jannik’s lone title this year was the Australian Open. Though he reached the finals at the Italian Open and French Open, Carlos denied him glory both times. Will history repeat itself at Wimbledon?

This final marks Jannik Sinner’s fifth Grand Slam final and his first at Wimbledon. For Carlos Alcaraz, it’s his sixth Grand Slam final and third straight at SW19. The Spaniard rides a 24-match winning streak and looks like the man to beat. While Sinner is a top-notch returner, breaking Alcaraz’s serve will be a tall order.

Despite the rivalry, respect runs deep. Sinner called it “a huge honor for me to share the court with Carlos. He’s one of the players I look up to. I love watching him. I don’t know if it’ll be better than the last one, I don’t think it’s possible.” And Alcaraz echoed the sentiment, praising the Italian’s consistency: “The level that Jannik’s playing, it’s really high as always. I think he doesn’t get down, you know, his level in the matches. So it’s unbelievable what he can do on a tennis court.”

Even seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, ousted by Alcaraz on Friday, can’t pick a clear favorite. “I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos as a favourite because of the two titles he’s won here and the way he’s playing and the confidence he has right now. But it’s just a slight advantage ’cause Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well. I think it’s going to be, again, a very close matchup like we had in Paris.”

The countdown is on, and the tension is electric. Who will lift the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy? Share your predictions and follow all the Wimbledon action on our Live Blog!