Wimbledon has entered a new era

The use last night of Wimbledon's Centre Court roof last night has ushered in a new era for tennis at the Championships, argues Paul Hayward in the Guardian. "The All England club will deny it, but this is the future of serve and volley.

"Even the BBC news got shunted aside as Britain's No1 and his uber-stubborn opponent smashed the record for a Wimbledon finish, which stood at 9.49pm. Now we know: the roof was built not to keep the rain out but to keep the excitement in, until 10.39pm, if necessary. Wimbledon is now barely distinguishable from the US and Australian Opens."

And what a game it was to bring in the "new age of late-night, floodlit tennis". It "was meant to be Roger Federer's job" to "give Andy Murray the run-around". Instead his compatriot and Swiss No 2 Stanislas Wawrinka who took the Briton, sedded three at the tournament, to five sets, providing an "ordeal Murray needed to toughen him up for the coming trials".

"Wawrinka went to war. An old law of facing a superior adversary is that playing the game he wants you to play is to invite annihilation. Murray and his foe are friends off court and often practise together," writes Hayward. "So Wawrinka could comprehend the folly of playing into the local hero's hands by allowing him to control the court with passive backhand slices. He broke Murray's serve twice in the first set to take it 6–2, carried on hustling him in the second and won the fourth to take him into dance marathon territory."

Murray however got mad with himself, and fought his way through. But he will have learned that his chosen way to play, "toying with the opponent's patience and dexterity by slicing the ball back low and slow" has been exposed at the highest level. It's time for the young Scot to step up a gear. ·