Wettest Wimbledon in 25 Years

LONDON, England, July 5, 2007 — -- It's the wettest Wimbledon in 25 years. Players, fans and staff at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) are trying their best to keep a stiff upper lip, but even the most genteel observers are grumbling.

Tournament referee Andre Jarrett faces a backlog of matches courtesy of the torrential storms and steady rain over the last nine of 10 days.

Jarrett told journalists covering Britain's traditional summer sporting event that the weather was "utterly ghastly," and that "it is a serious situation, one of great concern."

The real challenge for the AELTC is to succeed in completing the championship on time, he added.

Wimbledon spokesperson Johnnie Perkins told ABC News that at the moment "the championship is 177 matches behind and about $2 million out of pocket."

"Attendance is down by 1,500 fans a day from last year," he said, but "center court and courts one and two are not affected as these seats are mostly presold."

It has also been tough on the players. Due to the backlog, players will have less time to recuperate between matches and will be expected to play each day if necessary.

Staff at Wimbledon report that two of the most difficult rain-soaked matches were probably Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling and Serena Williams vs. Daniela Hantuchova earlier this week.

Nadal and Soderling's match ended only after five days. The men arrived on center court Saturday June 30, but rain forced them off even before they had finished warming up. No tennis was played middle Sunday, despite the dry weather. Rain and scheduling issues prevented Nadal and Soderling from completing the match until Wednesday, July 4. In the end, they battled it out over four hours and five minutes of heavily disrupted playing time.

Nadal was not alone in his disappointment over the no-play rule on the middle Sunday. He told reporters on site that he "could not understand why tennis was not played on Sunday as the weather was clear." He added, "They don't think very much about the players here maybe." John McEnroe, BBC sports commentator, accused officials of "bungling" their scheduling around the rain-hit tournament.