Wimbledon to test retractable roof

The home of British tennis – the All England Club – has announced that a ticketed event will be held on Sunday May 17th in order to test what is effectively a huge roof light.

Wimbledon has been hampered by pesky rain over the past few years and work on the multi-million pound retractable roof began in 2006 to address the issue, according to the BBC.

Although the roof takes ten minutes to close, it will reportedly allow natural light to reach the grass due to the use of glass.

Similar roofs have been build on sports stadiums across the world, with Torontos Rogers Centre being the first example of an efficient and fully-functioning retractable roof way back in 1989.

The idea in sport is to allow light in whilst protecting from the elements – similar in theory to the standard roof lights used in residential construction.

Roof lights can be extremely effective ways of providing natural light in loft conversions or even in spaces where there is a lack of an outer wall in which to place a window.

Depending on how Mays trial goes, Raphael Nadal could return to Wimbledon in the summer to defend his crown with no fear of rain delays.