WIMBLEDON — Fans hoping to complete a bumper day of sport on Sunday will get no help from Wimbledon organisers who have refused to budge on their football ban.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will face off in Sunday’s men’s singles final at Wimbledon, due to start at 2.10pm.

Organisers hope that the 8pm kick-off for England vs Spain will not clash with the final, although a repeat of last year’s men’s tennis finale – which lasted nearly five hours – would run the football close and certainly make it hard for fans to travel anywhere else to watch it.

However, i understands the All England Club (AELTC) has no plans to utilise Henman Hill or the big screen, even though with the mixed doubles final scheduled after the men’s final, the grounds are likely to be full of fans wanting to watch both.

“The big screens will be showing tennis,” AELTC chair Debbie Jevans said before the tournament.

“All the screens around the grounds will be showing tennis. We’ll only be showing tennis, as matches will be going on into the evenings.”

That policy appeared to have been circumvented by fans in Centre Court earlier in the championships when England won a penalty shootout against Switzerland.

Djokovic was still on court, battling Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, as the final stages unfolded and whole sections of the crowd were receiving news of each penalty, with a number of people silently streaming the match on their phones.

When it became clear – by applause – that England had won, Djokovic mimed taking a penalty and his opponent mimed diving to save it.

“I think you could feel, kind of sense the energy of the stadium, that everyone was wondering what the result is,” Djokovic said.

“I was expecting… if England was to score or to win, a huge eruption of the positive emotions and cheering would come from the stadium, which happened.”

But even the Serb admitted he was “surprised” that fans were not able to watch the game inside the grounds, although he hoped that on Sunday “the English crowd will have best of both worlds because… they’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the tennis and football as well”.

It’s not just the crowd either, with finalist Alcaraz an ardent football fan, even welcoming Croatian midfielder Luka Modric into his box for the semi-finals.

Like many fans, Alcaraz will hope to rush off and watch the match, which will be available to watch in some non-public areas of Wimbledon, although any that are visible from ticketed areas will be hidden by blinds or curtains.