Play was suspended at Wimbledon’s qualifying after the tournament’s electronic line calling system failed amid extreme temperatures in Roehampton. The pre-tournament qualifying matches are held at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre, where the mercury has risen to a stultifying 33 degrees Celsius, with 51 per cent humidity. Players – including British stars such as Dan Evans and Oliver Tarvet – were called off the courts just after 12.15pm, with matches resuming at 1.30pm after getting the line calling system is up and running again. ‘We’ve had a very challenging day, as you know, it’s swelteringly hot here, the temperatures are due to rise to about 37 degrees, so there have been a few power issues which has effected the electronic line calling system across the court,’ Annabel Croft confirmed on BBC commentary. ‘But the good news is that they’ve fixed it, and play is due to resume.’A statement from the All England Club (AELTC), Wimbledon’s organisers confirmed: ‘There was a temporary loss of power to part of our Qualifying venue, which meant that the electronic line calling system could not function. Power has now been restored and play is expected to resume shortly.’Daily Mail Sport understands that Wimbledon will continue to investigate the issue that caused the outage, with extreme heat thought to be a possible factor. Serena Williams feels the heat at Wimbledon today – while qualifying was stopped due to the electronic line calling system failing amid the heatwave World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka poses for the cameras on a boiling hot day at WimbledonElectronic line calling has been in place since last year’s iteration of the Championships, with Roland-Garros the only Grand Slam to continue using humans as line judges. But the system showed growing pains in its maiden running, with a number of high-profile gaffes seeing matches disrupted by issues with the use of the technology. Temperatures in the capital and the south of England are only expected to rise on Wednesday, with Wimbledon qualifying opting not to employ ball kids today for safety reasons, and instead use adult grounds crew. Djokovic withdraws from Hurlingham Novak Djokovic has pulled out of a Wimbledon warm-up event as temperatures reached a mega 34C in west London.The Serb goes into the Championships as second favourite with the bookmakers due to two-time winner Carlos Alcaraz being injured.But Djokovic’s preparations have been stalled by the searing heat as he withdrew from the Giorgio Armani Classic at Hurlingham in Parsons Green, west London.The 39-year-old was scheduled to play an exhibition match against Karen Khachanov in what would have been his only pre-Wimbledon match on a grass court.Djokovic and the event organisers gave no official reason for pulling out but the heatwave is suspected to have influenced his decision.World No 1 and Wimbledon favourite Jannik Sinner, who wilted in the heat as he crashed out of Roland Garros earlier this year, was due on court to face Brit Cam Norrie on Wednesday afternoon.LEWIS STEELE <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/tennis/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
Tennis’ heat rules – which utilise Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, which measures heat-stress conditions – could yet come into effect as the mercury rises, which sees cooling breaks introduced, and play suspended if the WBGT exceeds 32.2 degrees. The ATP tour codified new heat rules in December of last year, while the women’s tour have followed heat regulations since 1992. Although next week’s main tournament is expected to kick off in relatively cooler climes, last month’s French Open saw hotter temperatures set the draw alight as top stars faltered in the adverse conditions. World No 1 Jannik Sinner was particularly affected just one game from sealing a straight-sets victory against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. The Italian received a medical timeout and off-court treatment but amid dizziness and a significant drop in energy levels, Sinner was sensationally knocked out of Paris in the second round. Elsewhere in London, Wimbledon’s biggest stars continue to practice at the All England Club’s Aorangi Park, including Serena Williams and Aryna Sabalenka. As well as punishing temperatures this week, Wimbledon will also have to contend with the resurrection of the protest over prize money some of tennis’ biggest names started at the French Open last month, following the announcement that many of the top 20 stars will limit their media appearances to 15 minutes.The length of time has been chosen to represent the players’ call for prize money to rise to a 15 per cent share of tournament revenue. Despite Wimbledon’s decision to give the prize pot a significant 20 per cent increase this year to £64.2million, their protest in SW19 will extend beyond the media weekend to limit their post-match appearances to 15 minutes in the first week too.The players involved in the protest – which notably did not include 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in Paris – have argued that they are not taking part in the action to fill their own coffers, but are instead advocating for lower-ranked players for whom a Grand Slam appearance can represent a significant chunk of their yearly earnings. There is a belief that Wimbledon’s prize boost remains around £7m lower than their expectation, despite a previous statement following the announcement of the increase calling it ‘a generous and significant step forward’. Singles champions will take home £3.6m following the increase, while first-round losers will receive £80,000. BRITWATCH: Jack Draper makes Eastbourne semi-finals and Dan Evans crashes out of Wimbledon qualifying Jack Draper overcame his compatriot and close friend Jack Pinnington Jones in a straight-sets 7-5, 6-4 win to continue his travails through the draw at Eastbourne amid an injury-stricken season.Draper admitted that his confidence levels had been ‘through the floor a couple of weeks ago’, with the former world No4 forced to skip Queen’s last week as he struggled for fitness.The 2025 Indian Wells champion couldn’t have looked further from his own assessment as he took the opening break to make it 3-1 in the first set. His loose-limbed slingshot forehand was at times unbeatable, with only the compression sleeve on his left arm an indication that he has missed large swathes of the last year through an array of physical issues. But amid the punishing heat, Draper at times became complacent and increasingly content to hold his serve and experiment – with varying results – off it. Only when he was broken to make it 5-5 did Draper knuckle down, and see out the opening set. A similar pattern emerged in the second, with Pinnington Jones broken within minutes of returning to court. Draper looked increasingly battered by the late afternoon sun, constantly demanding a towel to mop his brow and at one point vomiting onto the baseline as he waited to return serve. Pinnington Jones even became frustrated with his delays at the change of ends, as Draper swapped shirts and desperately attempted to cool down. This time however, Draper held onto his serve, claiming the match with a no-messing hold. At the net, he pulled Pinnington Jones until a long bear hug. ‘I think to be honest, the more I’m playing, the more I’m coming through these matches day by day, that’s setting me up perfectly for next week,’ Draper said of his pre-Wimbledon preparations. ‘I’m not worried if I go the distance this week, whether that will make them tired for Wimbledon. It’s not about that at all. ‘I’ve worked incredibly hard to get fit again, and nothing can be as hard as what’s gone on with me the last year. And to be back, to be competing, to be at these tournaments, it’s almost way easier competing. When you’re, when you’re injured, you’re just in the asylum, training every day, trying to work things out, pain and struggle. ‘Being back on tour, this is what I love doing, so I think it’s good. I’m feeling better and better about my body, my tennis, and I think that the more days I can come through, that only puts me in a better spot.’The 24-year-old will join fellow Britons Toby Samuel and Jan Choinski in Thursday’s quarter-finals.Meanwhile in Roehampton, former British No1 Dan Evans will miss out on playing the Championships for the final time before his retirement at the end of the season after he was downed by the 28th seed Tristan Schoolkate in Wimbledon Qualifying.Evans had been critical of the tournament’s decision not to award him a main draw wildcard to allow him to say farewell in style, particularly in light of his significant Davis Cup and Olympic contributions. The former world No 21 suggested that Wimbledon had followed the standard set by the LTA, who had denied him an earlier main draw wildcard to Queen’s last week. TAMARA PRENN AT EASTBOURNE