Wimbledon’s ready for a late, late show

"The referee, who is very experienced and has supervisors to help him, will make a judgment call.

"Sometimes, we are not going to get it right, but, more often than not, we will. We have had conversations with the local authorities and there is no absolute cut-off time but we have to mindful of the local area.

"If we get to something like 22-22 in the fifth, then it is conceivable something could go a bit pear-shaped but that is an extreme situation."

The tournament referee ultimately decides when the roof will be used and the button is pressed to move the mechanism into place. The roof, which sits 16 metres above the court, only takes 10 minutes to shut but the subsequent period is required to pump 143,000 litres of air per second to ensure the surface remains playable.

Due to the time it takes for play to recommence, the roof will not be reopened during a match if outside conditions have improved and will only be retracted before the next game in the order of play. Ian Ritchie, the club chief executive, said: "The air management system has a vital role in controlling the internal environment — essentially controlling humidity and preventing either condensation of the inside of the roof or sweating of the grass — either of which would make the court slippery and unsuitable for play.

"We set out to make Wimbledon the world's premier tennis event. The new Centre Court roof project has been a sophisticated engineering feat. Much of the testing is complete and we are now making final adjustments ahead of the Centre Court celebration event on 17 May."

Andre Agassi, Tim Henman, Steffi Graff and Kim Clijsters will play three exhibition matches next month live on BBC2 to mark the opening of the renovated court.

The roof is comprised of 100 per cent recycled Tenara fabric — a water-proof material that is 40 per cent translucent, meaning it will let in natural light but is not transparent.

It has taken eight years to complete the 5,200-square-metre project. With the installation of an extra 1,200 seats, the capacity of Centre Court now stands at 15,000 for this year's championships, which begin on 22 June.

Prizemoney for the men's and women's singles champions will jump to 850,000, which represents an increase of 12.3 per cent on 2008. This year's event also marks the opening of the new Court Two, which has a capacity of 4,000, with the playing surface sunk 3.5metres into the ground to provide a better view throughout the arena.

The ground capacity for those without stadium passes has also increased this year by 3,500 to 40,000 people.

Meanwhile, world No10 Gael Monfils fears he will miss next month's French Open because of an injury.

Monfils had knee trouble for the last two years and French federation doctor Bernard Montalvan said: "From time to time, there is an inflammation of the kneecap and it's the case now."