Wimbledon blames crowd safety fears as Djokovic match is postponed

Wimbledon organisers blamed crowd safety fears after Novak Djokovic's fourth-round match was put back a day when play ran on late into the evening.

An epic battle lasting nearly five hours that saw Rafael Nadal knocked out of the Championships meant Djokovic's match against France's Adrian Mannarino could not be played.

Wimbledon defended its decision not to move the match over to Centre Court earlier in the day, despite it becoming clear Nadal's lengthy battle with Gilles Muller on Court One would go to five sets, eventually ending after four hours and 47 minutes.  

The players were kept waiting for a call to court until late in the day when the match was rescheduled for Tuesday and moved to Centre Court, where it will begin at the earlier time of midday.

The All England Statement said the Djokovic match was not be moved to Centre Court yesterday "due to the number of spectators remaining in the grounds."

"As late as 8:30 p.m., 30,000 people still remained in the grounds, and therefore moving the match would have created a significant safety issue," the statement added. 

The contest between Djokovic and Mannarino was the only last-16 singles match not to be played on 'Manic Monday' when all final 16 competitors  traditionally play.

The winner of today's match will go through to face Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals. 

Venus Williams's quarter final match against Jelena Ostapenko, which was due to begin at 1pm on Centre Court, will follow Djokovic's match.

Johanna Konta's match against Simona Halep will be the third and final match on Wimbledon's main court.