Safety fears may force Andy Murray to play Centre Court at Wimbledon

Safety concerns could see Andy Murray play his opening doubles match at Wimbledon on Centre Court, the chief executive of the All England Club has said.

General view the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo

Richard Lewis said it is likely the Scot will make his first appearance at the tournament in south-west London on one of the larger show courts.

Speaking yesterday as gates opened to tennis fans, Mr Lewis said the safety of players was part of decisions on where to schedule a match.

“One of the major considerations for Andy, I think first match in particular, is safety,” he said.

“So that restricts the number of courts he can be on – obviously Centre and No 1 are easy – I think once you get beyond Centre and No 1 it’s more problematic.

“I think after the first match, if the interest dies down a little bit, we might be able to have more flexibility where he plays.”

He added: “I think probably he will be on one of the major show courts.”

Mr Lewis said the need to get players “to and from the court” safely was part of organisers’ considerations.

He added: “Getting players to Court No 2, for example, it’s quite a long way in the public area so that’s always a consideration for any of the top players.

“It’s not just Andy, any of the big name players it’s always a consideration.”

Murray and French partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert will take on Romanian Marius Copil and Ugo Humbert of France in the men’s doubles competition later this week.

The Scot is not appearing in the single’s competition at Wimbledon this year as he makes a gradual return to action following hip surgery.

The All England Club announced yesterday that Wimbledon umpires will this year end the use of courtesy titles “Miss” and “Mrs” for female players.

Women will no longer be identified by their marital status during match scoring in a change to tournament tradition.

Umpires will not use the titles when announcing an end of game score or end of match score.

Match officials will simply say “game” or “game, set, match”, followed by a player’s surname.

British player Heather Watson, who won her first match yesterday, said “equality is always good” but added that she had not noticed the change on court.

According to the All England Club, the change has been made to “achieve consistency” for men and women at Wimbledon.