Gerry Armstrong to take over as Wimbledon referee from 2020

Gerry Armstrong has spent 41 years as an umpire and was in the chair for eight Wimbledon singles finals.

Wimbledon chiefs announced that the start of play on courts apart from Centre and Court One has been brought forward from 11.30am to 11am. gave

Gerry Armstrong will replace Andrew Jarrett as Wimbledon's tournament referee from 2020.

Armstrong is currently working as Wimbledon's assistant referee after retiring from his role as a chair umpire in 2015. He has spent 41 years as an umpire and was in the chair for eight Wimbledon singles finals.

Armstrong's most famous moment came when he defaulted American legend John McEnroe from a match at the 1990 Australian Open for verbal abuse.

Jarrett has held the post of Wimbledon's tournament referee since 2006, but he will retire after next year's tournament.

Wimbledon chiefs also announced a number of changes for the 2019 edition of the Grand Slam event.

The start of play on courts apart from Centre and Court One has been brought forward from 11.30am to 11am. Wimbledon has followed the US Open and Australian Open by increasing the size of the women's qualifying draw to 128 players to bring it in line with the men.

As a result there will no longer be qualifying events in the doubles.