2021 Wimbledon

As originally written by Tony Miller

Day 1 - Monday, June 28th

Monday, June 28 — ESPN, 6-11:31 a.m.; ESPN2, 11:30 a.m.-5:18 p.m.

Rain delayed the start of play on the outside courts from 11 a.m. to 3:44 p.m. local time (6 a.m. to 10:44 a.m. EDT), so there was no play on the grounds until the first ball on No. 1 Court at 1:07 p.m. BST (8:07 a.m. EDT). This led to the outright cancellation of 16 matches in the early evening; another 11 matches did not finish and 5 others were left waiting but never got on. Men: 16 finished, 7 suspended, 9 canceled; 2.94 matches worth of completion left Women: 16 finished, 4 suspended, 12 canceled; 1.35 matches worth of completion left As best as I can tell, ESPN was planning to feature No. 3 Court until the Djokovic match began, so I am including those matches in the commentator totals even though the Keys match was only on for about 5 minutes. Sabalenka/Niculescu (1) – Jason Goodall, Mary Joe Fernandez

Djokovic/Draper (CC) – Chris Fowler, John McEnroe

Tsitsipas/Tiafoe (1) – Patrick McEnroe, James Blake

Keys/Swon (3) – Pam Shriver, Mary Joe Fernandez

Stephens/Kvitova (CC) – Cliff Drysdale, Chrissie Evert

Kenin/Wang (3) – Pam Shriver, Alexandra Stevenson

Swiatek/Hsieh (1) – Jason Goodall, Mary Joe Fernandez

Murray/Basilashvili (CC) – Chris Fowler, Brad Gilbert Ahn/Watson (1) – Pam Shriver, Alexandra Stevenson

6:00 — Open

6:01 — Tease — Chris McKendry

6:02:30 — Sponsor billboard

6:03 — Studio open — McKendry, P.McEnroe, Fernandez — with the announcement that play would not begin before 6:30

6:14 — Cliff Drysdale and Chrissie Evert join from the upper Centre Court booth

6:26 — ESPN goes full rain-delay mode and starts cycling people through the studio

1) McKendry, Goodall, Darren Cahill, joined by Rennae Stubbs from the player bubble where she is coaching Samantha Stosur

2) McKendry, Fernandez, Shriver

3) McKendry, Gilbert, Blake

4) At about 7:10, they joined a replay of the 2019 men’s singles final

8:01 — 1 — Sabalenka/Niculescu — first ball at 8:07

8:28 — 2 — Djokovic/Draper — first ball 8:41

9:13 — Sabalenka/Niculescu

9:16 — Djokovic/Draper

9:18 — Sabalenka/Niculescu — end #1 at 9:21

9:22 — Djokovic/Draper

10:15 — 3 — Tsitsipas/Tiafoe

10:39 — Djokovic/Draper — end #2 at 10:41 — interview by Lee McKenzie

10:54 — Studio update — McKendry

10:55 — Tsitsipas/Tiafoe

11:22 — 4 — Keys/Swon

11:23 — 5 — Stephens/Kvitova

11:27 — Tsitsipas/Tiafoe

11:30 — Patrick McEnroe welcomes ESPN2 viewers at 2-0 (30-0) in the third set; both networks air the final three points of that game before …

11:31 — ESPN signs off

11:58 — Keys/Swon — end #3 at 12:00

12:01 — Tsitsipas/Tiafoe — end #4 at 12:03 — interview by person whose name I did not hear

12:16 — Studio — McKendry, Goodall

12:20 — Stephens/Kvitova

12:43 — 6 — Kenin/Wang

12:50 — 7 — Swiatek/Hsieh

12:52 — Hercog/Collins (6) — Shriver, Stevenson

1:08 — 8 — Murray/Basilashvili

1:33 — Swiatek/Hsieh update

1:45 — Studio — McKendry and Patrick McEnroe with Sloane Stephens

1:50 — Murray/Basilashvili

1:54 — Swiatek/Hsieh — end #5 at 1:56

1:57 — Murray/Basilashvili

2:02 — Studio — McKendry and Patrick McEnroe with Frances Tiafoe

2:08 — Murray/Basilashvili

2:12 — Davidovich Fokina/Kudla update

2:45 — Khachanov/McDonald (5) — Fowler, Gilbert

2:54 — 9 — Ahn/Watson

<2:58 — Murray/Basilashvili split-screen to 3:02>

3:05 — Murray/Basilashvili — until break to close roof at 3:41

3:45 — Brengle/McHale (16) — Shriver, Stevenson

3:49 — Ahn/Watson — until break to close roof at 3:52

3:58 — Murray/Basilashvili — play resumes at 4:02

4:32 — Ahn/Watson

4:37 — Murray/Basilashvili — end #6 at 4:48

4:50 — Ahn/Watson — end #7 at 5:17 5:18 — Sign off

Day 2 - Tuesday, June 29th

Tuesday, June 29 — ESPN, 6-11:32 a.m.; ESPN2, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Eight singles matches for each gender were pushed off to Wednesday in order to get Monday’s makeup matches in. Then there was another rain delay of about three and a half hours, which made things more of a mess than they already were. The women would finish 25 of their 40 matches and the men finished 21 of their 40. Two of Monday’s matches — both on the men’s side — are still not finished. There will be 50 first-round matches to play Wednesday, 7 of which have started, which means there is no doubles until Thursday.

de Minaur/Korda (17) – Jason Goodall, Brad Gilbert

Evans/Lopez (2) – Jason Goodall, Brad Gilbert Shapovalov/Kohlschreiber (12) – Jason Goodall, Brad Gilbert

Zverev/Griekspoor (1) – Patrick McEnroe, John McEnroe

Barty/Suarez Navarro (CC) – Chris Fowler, Mary Joe Fernandez

Federer/Mannarino (CC) – Chris Fowler, James Blake

Kerber/Stojanovic (1) – Pam Shriver, Alexandra Stevenson

Gauff/Jones (2) – Pam Shriver, Alexandra Stevenson

S.Williams/Sasnovich (CC) – Cliff Drysdale, Chrissie Evert

Humbert/Kyrgios (1) – Jason Goodall, James Blake

6:00 — Tease — Chris McKendry

6:01 — Open

6:03 — Studio — McKendry, Evert, Patrick McEnroe

6:32 — 1 — de Minaur/Korda

6:48 — 2 — Evans/Lopez

7:01 — 3 — Shapovalov/Kohlschreiber

<7:07 — de Minaur/Korda split screen to 7:10>

7:20 — Tournament update — Goodall

7:21 — de Minaur/Korda

7:32 — Tournament update — McKendry, Evert, Fernandez

7:36 — Studio — McKendry, Evert, Fernandez

7:42 — de Minaur/Korda

<7:45 — Shapovalov/Kohlschreiber split-screen to 7:49>

8:01 — Evans/Lopez — end #1 at 8:10

8:11 — de Minaur/Korda

8:28 — 4 — Zverev/Griekspoor

8:39 — de Minaur/Korda update

8:42 — 5 — Barty/Suarez Navarro — into stoppage to close roof at 8:50

8:54 — de Minaur/Korda — end #2 at 9:30

9:32 — Tournament update showing outer courts covered — Fowler

9:33 — Barty/Suarez Navarro — end #4 at 10:37

9:36 — Zverev/Griekspoor update

<10:00 — Zverev/Griekspoor split-screen — end #3 at 10:02>

10:43 — Studio — McKendry, Gilbert, Evert

10:51 — Venus Williams interview — McKendry, Gilbert, Evert

11:02 — 6 — Federer/Mannarino — first ball 11:06

11:30 — Fowler welcomes ESPN2 viewers at 3-2 (0-15); the rest of the sixth game would be simulcast on both networks

11:32 — ESPN signs off

<11:36 — 7 — Kerber/Stojanovic split-screen to 11:39>

11:44 — Kerber/Stojanovic — end #5 at 11:53

11:54 — Federer/Mannarino — end #6 by retirement at 1:47 following the first point of the fifth set

1:10 — Tournament update notes that play has resumed on all outer courts

1:57 — Tournament update — Shriver — 24 of the 80 scheduled matches postponed to Wednesday

2:00 — 8 — Gauff/Jones

2:14 — 9 — S.Williams/Sasnovich — first ball 2:22

2:27 — Gauff/Jones update

<2:30 — Gauff/Jones split-screen to 2:32 — end #7 at 2:31>

2:47 — 10 — Medvedev/Struff (1) — Patrick McEnroe, Brad Gilbert — look-in during medical timeout

2:50 — S.Williams/Sasnovich — end #8 by retirement at 2:56

3:06 — Studio — McKendry, Blake, Fernandez

3:13 — joined by Goodall

3:20 — joined by Drysdale and Evert

3:27 — joined by Shriver and Stevenson

3:40 — 11 — Humbert/Kyrgios

3:59 — Coco Gauff press conference

4:00 — Tournament update

4:04 — Humbert/Kyrgios

4:21 — Tournament update with outdoor matches suspended

4:23 — Humbert/Kyrgios — play suspended by curfew at 5:55 at 3-3 in fifth set

5:58 — Sign off