That's a good point, but I think originally nobody played on the Sunday because Sunday was a day where everything stopped and shops closed, etc, but also - it gives the grass a break, because grass courts suffer more than clay or hards.
Personally, I'm amazed at how poorly the other slams schedule things, when they begin on the Sunday and cover three weekends. This year, the world #1 began on the 3rd day of the FO, the defending champ played on the 2nd day (and had eventually to play two days in a row), while Federer began his campaign on the opening day. Not Federer's fault! But they always run into these scheduling contradictions in all the slams that don't start with W. I have to say, even without the roof, Wimbledon usual,ly ran smoothly. 2007 was an exception and I think they made mistakes there by not playing in the middle Sunday (from memory)...
