LONDON (AP) - As synonymous with Wimbledon as strawberries and cream, rain delays on Centre Court will soon be a tradition consigned to the past.

Finally, after years of dithering, the All England Club announced Tuesday that it plans to build a retractable roof. Players and spectators still will have to endure rain delays for several more years
The club still needs to get planning permission, work will not start for two years, and the roof will not be in place until 2009.

It is the second recent departure from tradition at Wimbledon: Last year, the All England Club abandoned the custom of players curtsying or bowing to the Royal Box.
But the planned roof is generally considered a good idea.
Covering Centre Court probably will not help the tournament as a whole, because 19 other courts will remain uncovered. There are 650 matches played during the two weeks of tennis

But it will give the tournament's 1.8 billion viewers worldwide something to watch other than water pooling on green tarps covering courts."When it does rain, it's very frustrating for everyone," All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said.
"We have been mindful of this issue for a number of years, but we are very confident the unique Centre Court atmosphere will be maintained with the roof."Rain has always been an obsession at Wimbledon - the official statistics book even has a year-by-year summary of the weather during the tournament, dating to 1919.

Since then, Wimbledon has been extended 15 times because of rain, most recently in 2001, when Goran Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter in the men's final on a Monday. Six tournaments have been unaffected by rain . Since 1877, rain has completely washed out 30 days of action.

Wimbledon's weather opening day could be a re-run of 26th June 2006, then the forecast was for a grey, dull start with showery outbreaks of rain, these becoming heavy, perhaps thundery at times. Cool, gentle northerly breeze. Maximum temperature 17 deg C (63 deg F). In fact we had only 44 minutes of play, for the 25th of June 2007 the forecast is not much better, often cloudy, rain or showers, some heavy. Showers merging to longer spells of rain later. Maximum temperature 18°C. The remaining week outlook is for cool weather with sunny spells and heavy showers. Temperatures should recover next week.

The Dunblane (Scotland) born Andy Murray currently ranked eighth in the world and British number one tennis player has been forced to pull out of Wimbledon after failing to recover fully from a wrist injury he suffered recently.
Murray said: "I have done everything possible to get ready for Wimbledon. I have played practice sets the last few days but still cannot hit a topspin forehand properly. It has been six weeks of really hard work but I'm not 100% ready"'.
American Kevin Kim will replace Murray at Wimbledon.

Roger Federer, could emulate Bjorn Borg by winning five straight Wimbledon titles, the champion will open his defense against Teimuraz Gabashvili, 85th-ranked Russian.
Roger has dominated this tournament the last four years beating Nadal in last year's final, 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, and easily defeated hard-hitting American Andy Roddick in 2005 and 2004 and his first Wimbledon final victory came against Mark Philippoussis in 2003.
"The only thing that can stop Roger is if he is sick,'' former French Open runner-up Henri Leconte said in an interview two days ago. ``If Roger's not injured, he will win.''

The Wimbledon Championships will finally offer women and men equal prize money for the first time at this year’s tournament. The announcement by the All England Club brings it into line with other Grand Slams after criticism from officials and players. The total prize money for this year's championships is £11,282,710 , a massive increase of 8.70% on last year £10,378,710. No tournament paid higher prize money than Wimbledon in 2005 , 2006 and so far 2007. 11,282,710 British pounds are approximately equal to 22,564,000 US Dollars.
Past years comments:
Maria Sharapova"Women's tennis players are getting as many sponsors and media coverage as the men, and I understand that our TV ratings at the Grand Slams are pretty much equal to and often better than the men so I don't understand the rationale for paying the men more than us."
Billie Jean King "Wimbledon needs to join the modern world on this issue. "
Venus Williams "Wimbledon needs to do the right thing and finally pay the women the same as the men."

Centre Court and Court 1 is introducing the "Hawk-Eye" challenge system, allowing for electronic reviews of close calls. The "Hawk-Eye" system made its Grand Slam debut at the U.S in 2006, and the Australian Open followed in January. 'When a player questions a call, screens show a graphic rendering of the ball's flight, in slow motion, with a black spot indicating where the ball landed. That spot either touches a white line (the ball was in) or it doesn't (the ball was out)'.

Venus Williams has lost in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros but she is confident to defend her Wimbledon crown.

"During the last six weeks, I had a lot of challenges physically that I was able to overcome just to be here today," "I'm proud of that. I just want to get stronger and get better."
Serena will no doubt work to strenghten her volleys and her backhand.

Rafael Nadal says he has overcome the shoulder injury which forced him out of the Stella Artois Championships and is fit for Wimbledon.
"I need to take it one game at a time. My only objective is to improve my play on a surface I find difficult, and I don't expect to go far," Nadal added.myself to be able to win there in the future.

"I don't think I will leave as champion this year but we will see what happens." (Cheer up)

Roger Federer is 1/2 favourite to win Wimbledon with William Hill who also offer 10/1 Hewitt; 12 Ancic; Roddick; 16 Blake; Nadal; 20 Nalbandian; 25 Henman; 50 Murray; Safin; 100 Agassi; 150 Rusedski.

Maria Sharapova is 2/1 favourite to win the Ladies title with Hills who also offer 5/1 Clijsters; 11/2 Henin-Hardenne; 13/2 Venus Williams; 7 Mauresmo; 8 Vaidisova; 10 Hingis; 14 Kuznetsova

Australia's Mark Philippoussis 176th world ranking, secured a late wildcard entry to Wimbledon.
"You got to earn your wildcards and I've been very fortunate to have a lot and I know that. For me, I just need to play matches. I just want to concentrate on this tournament and take it a match at a time."

Men's wild cards - Romania's Andrei Pavel and six British players Jamie Baker, Richard Bloomfield, Alex Bogdanovic, Jamie Delgado, Martin Lee, and Alan Mackin.

Women's wild cards - Australia's Alicia Molik, Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and five British players: Sarah Borwell, Naomi Cavaday, Anne Keothavong, Katie O'Brien and Melanie South.

Jelena Dokic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2000, was given a wild-card entry into the women's qualifying event.

All change at Wimbledon 2006, umpires, ball boys and ball girls will be kitted out with the new navy blue and cream uniform carrying the logo of American fashion company Polo Ralph Lauren.
"This look matches tradition with style. It captures the essence of Wimbledon. The fact that it is designed by an American company is neither here nor there. We are a global event," - Ian Ritchie chief executive of the All England Club. "It makes sense that the manufacturers' logo is on the shirts. Its size is within the limits set for the players." David Lauren, the designer's son, said the collection was "very Wimbledon, yet very Ralph Lauren".

The BBC will offer a sophisticated red-button interactive TV service to accompany its coverage of the Wimbledon tennis championships
By pressing the red button, digital satellite and digital cable viewers will be able to access live coverage from up to four different courts, as well as the live broadcast on BBC One or BBC Two: each feed will feature live commentary and a regularly updated scoreboard. Viewers will be able to switch between the service's five video feeds by using the "up" and "down" keys on their remote. By pressing the blue button, they will be able to access a menu that will present them with the following options: News (all the latest news from the championships), Scores (live updated scores from all the courts),and Results (live updated results).

Suzelle Davin will become the first Namibian female tennis player to compete at Junior Wimbledon
Davin qualified after she worked her way up the International Tennis Federations (ITF) rankings.
She is ranked 108 in the world under the junior female category and only the players above the 200 mark are considered for the tournament.
A total of 64 junior players will compete at the event.
She will also be the only African player in the female junior category at the event, which is expected to end in July.
Namibia's top male player Jurgens Strydom represented Namibia at the same event last year, also the first time for junior men.

Mr Andre Agassi, (35 years old) has pulled out of the Wimbledon 2005 championships because of injury. Mr Agassi also pulled out of Wimbledon 2004 because a hip problem.

Agassi said that it was a regrettable decision and he would miss playing in the tournament.
"Andre Agassi regrets he will have to withdraw from the gentlemen's singles due to injury".
Mr Agassi said in a fax that it is a regrettable decision and he will miss playing in the most prestigious tournament in the world." The exact nature of his injury remains undisclosed.

Wimbledon has increased its 2005 Championships pool by a total of 3.9 per cent from last year to £10,085,510 pounds (just over 19 million $US) .
Men's singles champion £630,000 (2004 - £602,500),women's singles champion £600,000 (2004 - £560,500). The gap between men and women is again reduced, "We are delighted to recognise the current stature of the women's game" Chairman Tim Phillips commented.

2004 U.S. Open - $17.75 million (before bonuses from hardcourt season) £9.3 million
2004 French Open - 13.26 million euros ($17.30 million, £9 million)
2005 Australian Open - 19.1 million australian $ ($14.90 million, £7.78 million).

Tim Henman will be 31 this summer, the British champ has no plans to ritire, the Wimbledon dream is still one of Tim's ultimate goals.

"There's no reason why I can't play on for another three or four more years," Henman said. "Look at the way Agassi's been playing. He's changed people's thinking about the age you're meant to be stopping in tennis and he may just have had his 35th birthday."

Mr Henman has a large number of devoted fans, we have seen them camping and in the queues outside SW19 year after year, 2005 will no doubt be any different. Good Luck Tim.

Ana Ivanovic - At just seventeen is showing great potential, last year the Serbian n3 seed reached the Wimbledon junior's final. (Katerina Bondarenko (UKR) def. Ana Ivanovic (SCG) 6-4 6-7(2) 6-2).
Since then Ana has progressed to win over US Open holder Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami.
In 2004 Miss Ivanovic took Venus Williams to two tie-break sets at the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich, and won 30 of her matches on the lower ITF Tour.
We predict Ivanovic should eventually enter the top 50 ranking by the end of 2005.

Lindsay Davenport was critical of Wimbledon and its unequal prize money share between gentlemen and ladies winners.
To date there are only three major tournaments where the prize money is the same for both of the sexes, namely the US, Australian and Dubai Open.

“I think it is highly insulting if prize money is taken away. And somebody, said they won't have money for flowers at Wimbledon. That's insulting.” “People believe what they believe. You hear about women playing only three sets while men play five.

Officials from the International Olympic Committee commission visited Wimbledon for the evaluation of London 2012 Olympic bid. All England Club chief executive Mr Chris Gorringe comment about hosting the Olympic tennis event soon after the championship was inequivocal "We are confident that it won't be a problem ."I think it's going to be fantastic. We will be delighted to have the games here in 2012."

The 2012 Olympic events are scheduled for August, Wimbledon will no doubt be the perfect venue for hosting the tennis games.

Maria Sharapova beat Lindsay Davenport 6-1 3-6 7-6 to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo . Wimbledon champ Maria was in peak form proudly adding the eighth career title to date and getting a nudge closer to the become the world number one.

"Being number one is not for this year, I don't think " Maria told Reuters , " For this year, I would love to defend Wimbledon. It's what drives me."

Last year Maria , just turned 17, took Wimbledon by storm and surprise by defeating Serena Williams, however , ace Serena did get her 'sweet' revenge at the 2005 Australian Open semi-finals by defeating Miss Sharapova after a very close match ( 2-6  7-5  8-6 ) .

Marat Safin will be coming to Wimbledon 2005 . After a bitter early exit last year, Mr Safin stated his unwillingness to play the championship for the forseable future.
The Australian Open triumph seemed to have reinstated the ace confidence in SW19.
"I will play, but not with so many expectations," said Safin , "People interpret what I said at Wimbledon, they took it to such extreme way.

For one day I was so famous because I said something which has nothing to do with the tournament, has nothing to do with anything around the tournament. Just I said my opinion that I don't like the surface, I cannot play on that surface, and I feel like I can't waste my time, my energy on that surface. That's it."

"It's my opinion. I didn't say anything wrong. I didn't say anything bad about Wimbledon. But just I am feeling that it is not my surface. Some people cannot play on clay. Some people, cannot play on hard court.
It's more psychological, of course.
But even though I had a good result one year I don't feel comfortable on that surface. That's it."

So you are coming  -   We are looking forward to see Marat fighting out at Centre Court , maybe with a little nervous grin , Hewitt and Federer, are also pondering and contemplating the prospect of a Safin challenge.

Roger Federer collection of throphies continues relentess. No doubt Wimbledon remains one of his top priorities in 2005.

Last year, Federer put together the best season since Mats Wilander in 1988 by winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. "Wimbledon last year was the first time I came back as a defending champion," he said. "I did well . We do agree Roger, it certainely kept us on the edge of our seats .

Andy Roddick has no doubt noted how Roger Federer, the only player ahead of him on the world rankings, is already back to his winning ways for 2005, Roddick commented :
“The way he finished last year and started this year, he’s playing the best in the world ”

The absence of world No1 Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters from Wimbledon this month will leave a gaping hole in the women's draw for a fourth successive Grand Slam.
Ever since Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus to lift the All England Club crown last July, the four majors have failed to showcase the top women's talent.
The Williams sisters were sorely missed at last year's US Open after both were forced out of action with injuries.

More' bad news' , another top player has announced that will not be coming to Wimbleodn .

Andre Agassi pulled out of Wimbledon on Tuesday, citing a hip injury, and leaving the tournament without one of the world's most popular players.
Agassi winner of eight Grand Slam titles, including Wimbledon in 1992 has been in a slump.

He's lost his opening match at each of his past three tournaments. "I have been struggling with a hip injury for the past couple of months, and in my preparation for Wimbledon realized the injury was only worsened " Andre said it with a 'give me sympathy man' face.

Three times former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has dismissed Tim Henman’s chances in this year’s tournament “He’s not number one player in the world but he plays above his level every year when Wimbledon comes”

Becker said Henman, who got to the semi-finals of the French Open on clay less than two weeks ago, would get as far as the semi-finals on the Wimbledon grass – his preferred surface – only on his “very, very best day.”

Becker wowed the Wimbledon crowds as a fresh-faced teenager and went on to win the title a total of three times, coming runner-up four times and being the tournament’s youngest winner at 17 years old.
(final 1985 , Boris Becker, unseeded defeated Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 )

Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne has withdrawn from the Wimbledon Tennis Championships because of a viral infection.

"I am sad and disappointed to announce that I will not be able to participate in Wimbledon this year," Henin-Hardenne said in a statement Tuesday.

"My physicians have given me strict orders that several more weeks of rest are necessary to ensure a full recovery."

Kim Clijsters, the world's No.2 rank, withdrew from Wimbledon because of a wrist injury.

Former world No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten has pulled out of Wimbledon 2004, citing a nagging hip injury. "Guga" will skip the prestigious event for the third time in four years.
The three-time French Open champion Kuerten was a second-round loser at Wimbledon 2003, marking his first appearance there in three years. He's a pedestrian 7-5 all-time at the All England Club, including his lone quarterfinal appearance in 1999.

The 27-year-old Brazilian star was a French Open quarterfinalist last week on his beloved red clay.

Argentine Mariano Zabaleta, France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, Finn Jarkko Nieminen and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui also announced their plans to skip Wimbledon 2004

Martina Navratilova has not ruled out the possibility of returning to play in the singles at Wimbledon this year.

The 47-year-old holds the record for women's singles titles, having won 167 events in her career and Wimbledon nine times.

"I am taking it one tournament at a time, but it certainly is a possibility," she said in a press conference after her second-round doubles defeat at the Rome Masters, transmitted on BBC Radio Five Live.

"We will just see what happens, how I feel, how I do and take it from there. "If I think it can help my doubles, then I will play. I think it will hinder the doubles, then I won't play.
"Just practising for singles helps my doubles," she said. "I want to get more match play.

This is one way to do it." She added: "I would have played here (in the singles in Rome) actually, but I didn't have time to prepare properly.
"I had too many commitments in the States in my two weeks off between the Fed Cup and coming here, so I didn't have enough time to play. "If I had a week where I could have practised and prepared properly,
I would have played singles here, but I didn't."

The 47-year-old revealed she would prepare for the French Open in Europe, but would not be drawn on where. "I want to keep it quiet. I'll be practising on clay in Europe," she said. "Not that it's a big secret, but there's no need for anyone to know where I will be next week."
The Prague-born American last played singles at the French Open in 1994, losing in the first round. Her last Grand Slam singles match came later that year at Wimbledon, then beaten by Conchita Martinez in the final.

Kim Clijsters is aiming to be fully fit for the Wimbledon championships in June. The Belgian was sidelined for six weeks with an injured left wrist, but recently returned to competitive tennis, steering Belgium to a 3-2 win in their Fed Cup tie with Croatia.

"The focus is on Wimbledon. That's where I believe I will be able to play my best tennis," Clijsters told BBC Sport.Clijsters played with a brace on her wrist during the tie.
"I'll play the French and we will see what I can do but I'll play with the brace and that will definitely be restricting me," she said. - UPDATE : withdrawn from Wimbledon

LONDON (Reuters & AP) - Women still awarded less than men at Wimbledon 2004. This year's Wimbledon men's champion will receive 602,500 pounds (US$1,077,089) after organizers announced Tuesday a 4.8 percent increase in the singles prize money for the 2004 championships.
The relative difference between men's and women's prizes has not changed, however, despite requests from the women's tour.

The women's champion will receive 560,500 pounds (US$1,002,174), up from 535,000 (US956,420) last year.
Last year's men's winner Roger Federer pocketed 575,000 (US$ 1,002,006) pounds.
Exchange ratescalculated at April 27, 2004. Check today's rates: click here

Tim Phillips, chairman of the tournament, said the WTA had urged Wimbledon to close the gap. The Australian and U.S. Open championships pay men and women equally, though at the French Open the men still get more.
But Tim Phillips, chairman of the club and the championships, said: "Both singles champions winners will receive in excess of a million dollars on the basis of the current monetary exchange rate.

"I was at a meeting in Los Angeles earlier this year where I gave the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) a presentation on why we do what we do with prize money and they gave their perspective at a dinner here in London some time later. "But we have not been persuaded. We are just trying to be fair to men and women. Don't forget, the ladies' prize pot is over four-and-a-half million dollars.
"Our aim is to make Wimbledon better and better every year - for all the key people involved, players and spectators."

The men's singles prize money will total 3,296,810 pounds, up 4.8% than last year, while as much as 2,825,630 will go to women's singles, also 4,8% more than last year.
The total prize money for the championships will stand at 9,707,280 pounds, a 3.6% increase than last year.

LONDON (AP) - Andre Agassi lost a British tax case in a ruling that could have implications for other Tennis players.Agassi must pay British tax on income earned from endorsements, even if the companies aren't based in Britain,

the High Court ruled.Anyone who competes or performs in Britain has a liability to pay tax, the court said. Athletes already pay tax on prize money but now must also pay up on earnings they receive from endorsements while they are in the country.Although Wimbledon attract the biggest names in tennis,some stars already don't make the trip.

If playing at Wimbledon means handing over money to the Inland Revenue, (UK equivalent of IRS) more could decide to stay away.Richard Baldwin, tax partner in the Deloitte Sport Group, said most tax authorities have a system where, if sports stars have to pay tax in another country, they receive a tax credit back home.
This High Court ruling makes the British tax law enforceable and in line with other countries, he said.

Tim Henman has said that he never believed Greg Rusedski was guilty of doping after his fellow Briton was exonerated by the Association of Tennis Professionals ( ATP )  

Henman told the Telegraph was saying that Rusedski has "been around too long to think he could get away with deliberately taking banned substances . I said all along I don't think he's the type of person who would take something because he's been around the game for such a long time, he knows you're not going to get away with something like that with the drug testing programme already in place". Rusedsky can now get on with his life and career.

"I'm glad that he's been able to prove his innocence. The last six months must have been horrific for him,"
"You wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy. To be able to put this behind him must be such a relief."

Rusedski was informed the ATP on Tuesday , and the sport's governing body released a statement on Wednesday.

"The player is exonerated of the finding by the Review Board that he committed a doping offence under Section C1.a of the Rules of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, there being no evidence supporting such a finding," ATP statement .
"The tribunal held, unanimously and unequivocally, that Mr Rusedski was not guilty of a doping offence."