It is known what happens when the ball strikes the roof at Wimbledon

During the second-round match of the Wimbledon tournament between Coco Gauff and Anca Todoni, a very unusual situation occurred - the ball flew very high and almost hit the roof. What happens in such situations, and how do the umpires act?

According to the AS, if the ball does hit the roof, the player who struck it loses a point. According to Rule 13 of the Rules of Tennis of the International Tennis Federation (IRF), if the ball "touches a fixed fixture before it hits the ground, the player who hit the ball loses the point". Despite the fact that the roofs at Wimbledon are retractable, they are still considered permanent structures.

In the match between Gauff and Todoni, the ball did not hit the roof itself. The Romanian tennis player hit the net and lost a point. She turned to the referee, who explained why the game continued. The roofs on both the centre court and court number 1 have support beams under the roof covering, and there are many gaps between the beams.

The rule clearly states that the ball must touch the roof for the point to end, meaning that the ball can go up to the height of the roof, and provided it passes through the beams without touching anything, the point continues.

By the way, Emma Navarro and Corey Hauff determined the quarter-finalist of Wimbledon 2024 in a head-to-head match. The match ended very unexpectedly: the world number two was defeated and left the tournament.