Wimbledon targets using serve clock at 2020 tournament

LONDON – Wimbledon is “highly likely” at the 2020 tournament to introduce a serve clock for players that debuted in Grand Slams at last year’s US Open.

Tournament CEO Richard Lewis detailed the timetable at a news conference on Tuesday which announced a near-12% raise in prize money for the July 1-14 edition.

Lewis says the clock would be “not a rule change, just a visible device on the court to manage the rule.”

Players have 25 seconds to prepare after a point for the next first serve. They are first warned, then assessed a fault for the second violation.

Wimbledon will have a 38 million pounds ($49.5 million) prize fund this year and give the men’s and women’s singles champions a 4.4% raise to 2.35 million pounds ($3.06 million).

First-round losers get a 15% raise to 45,000 pounds ($58,600).

Wimbledon’s No. 1 court will have a new retractable roof and increased capacity of 12,345.