Organizers face worst Wimbledon backlog in 25 years

Serbia's Ana Ivanovic serves to Russia's Nadia Petrova during their singles match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, July 3, 2007. Organizers are facing their worst scheduling headache for 25 years at Wimbledon after rain once again disrupted play at the championships on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Organizers are facing their worst scheduling headache for 25 years at Wimbledon after rain once again disrupted play at the championships on Tuesday.

On a day usually reserved for women's quarter-finals, four men's third round matches, including that of second seed Rafael Nadal, still await completion.

In 1982 over three times the average midsummer rainfall forced third round matches into the second Wednesday. The men's final, won by Jimmy Connors, was completed a day later than scheduled.

The backlog this year has not been helped by the Organizers' decision not to play on the middle Sunday of the tournament, a tactic used on three previous occasions.

The championships last extended into a third week in 2001 when wildcard Goran Ivanisevic defeated Australia's Pat Rafter in a five-set thriller.

Although a retractable roof over Centre Court will be in place for the 2009 championships, this would only have guaranteed the completion of four or five matches per day if bad weather continued to plague the tournament.