Wimbledon organisers are fighting an increasingly desperate battle to get this year's event finished on time. With rain falling on seven out of eight days so far, the tournament is badly behind schedule and struggling with a backlog of matches in all competitions.

Wednesday should be quarter-finals day for the men, but two third-round ties have yet to be completed.

More showery weather is forecast for Wednesday before drier conditions are expected on Thursday and Friday. Earlier this week, tournament referee Andrew Jarrett defended the decision not to play matches on this year's middle Sunday.

He argued that before Saturday, when only 57 minutes of play was possible on Centre Court, the singles events had been on schedule.

Play has only taken place three times on the middle Sunday - in 1991, 1997 and 2004.

The last time Wimbledon failed to finish on schedule was 2001 when wildcard Goran Ivanisevic's five-set win over Pat Rafter was completed a day late.

The current backlog is the worst since 1982, when over three times the average midsummer rainfall forced third round matches into the second Wednesday.

The men's final, won by Jimmy Connors, was also completed a day late on the tournament's third Monday.

In total, Wimbledon is due stage 734 matches in 13 events across the 13 days of the Championships.

Courtesy bbc.co.uk

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