The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Gerry Armstrong as Championships Referee Designate, to succeed current Referee Andrew Jarrett for The Championships 2020.

Jarrett, who has held the position of Championships Referee since 2006, will retire following The Championships 2019, thereby enabling a suitable period of handover prior to the commencement of Armstrong’s three-year term in 2020.

During an officiating career spanning 46 years, Armstrong has umpired 13 Championships Finals at Wimbledon, including four Gentlemen’s Singles Finals and four Ladies’ Singles Finals. He has subsequently held the positions of Assistant Referee (2007-present), Qualifying Referee (2012-present) and Wheelchair Referee (2014-present).

Also announced today were a series of operational enhancements, effective from The Championships 2019 onwards.

Firstly, following a successful invitation doubles event in 2018, Quad Wheelchair Singles and Doubles events will be staged at The Championships, joining the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Wheelchair Singles and Doubles. The events will be a knockout format open to men’s and women’s Quad Wheelchair competitors.

The start of play time for matches on all courts, excluding Centre and No.1 Courts, will move forward from 11.30am to 11am in order to allow for greater certainty over completion of the order of play. Play will continue to commence at 1pm on Centre and No.1 Courts, and at 2pm on Centre Court on the final weekend.

Finally, the Qualifying Competition will be comprised of 128-draw events for both Gentlemen’s Singles and Ladies’ Singles. As a result, there will no longer be Qualifying Doubles events.

Richard Lewis, Chief Executive of the AELTC, commented: “We are pleased to be making a series of announcements in order to give our competitors, stakeholders and spectators ample time to prepare ahead of next year’s Championships.

“We are delighted to be introducing Quad Wheelchair Singles and Doubles events, providing the Quad Wheelchair competitors with the opportunity to compete at Wimbledon.

“We are also pleased to be confirming two significant operational decisions in staging two 128 singles draws for the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Qualifying, and in moving the start of play time forwards by half an hour.

“Lastly, the AELTC would like to record its sincere thanks to Andrew Jarrett, who, as our long-standing Championships Referee, has provided us with notice of his intention to retire following The Championships 2019. This has allowed us to appoint Gerry Armstrong as his successor and enable a considerable and important period of handover.”

Additional enhancements for The Championships 2019 will be announced on Tuesday 30 April 2019 at the annual Spring Press Conference.