Rain forces centre court roof to close

The retractable roof at Wimbledon's Centre Court has been closed on Day 1 of this year's tournament because of rain.

Showers delayed play Monday at about 5 p.m. local time, when the match in the main stadium between 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and Jelena Dokic was 1-1 in the third set.

It took about 20 minutes for the roof to shut.

The roof was added to Centre Court before the 2009 tournament and was used once that year because of rain. It was used once in 2010 because of darkness - artificial lights go on when the roof is closed - and occasionally to provide shade from the sun, but never due to rain.