By DPA
London : Not only are matches massively behind schedule at the wet and wild Wimbledon Championships, but what limited parking exists is now severely restricted.
The reason: Waterlogged car parks, which have led to a plea from beleaguered club officials asking fans to take public transport.
After eight days of stop-start play, only one day – last Thursday – was completely free from rain.
But with the scheduled end of the fortnight looming, club bosses issued a gloomy damage assessment, with the event 177 matches behind at start of play Wednesday.
In addition, 142 matches have so far been interrupted by rain, with nine delays on Centre Court including six on Tuesday's near-rainout.
*****
Sampras laments end of an era on grass
Five years into retirement, former Wimbledon dominator Pete Sampras says he's "sad" when he watches the current style of grass-court play.
The seven-time champion refused to dip his toes back into the sport despite a quiet offer of a singles wild card this year at Wimbledon.
But the former number one has been increasing his other participation and will play for a second year in the brief American TeamTennis season this month for a Californian side.
"It's sad for me to see Wimbledon today and everyone staying back," he said. "There's not one serve-and-volleyer playing.
"It's sad to see that sort of game being extended. I felt grass court tennis is the attacking guy. In my generation, that's what everyone did. You look at the French and Wimbledon, the only difference is the colour of the court."
Sampras admitted that he might be able to still hold his own at age 35 if Wimbledon played best of three sets.
"I've been consistently playing the past year, 15 months, and I've been playing quite well and gotten my conditioning and my strength back.
"I hope to perform better this year at the TeamTennis than I did last year. I've been hitting three days a week for the past six months. It's amazing what a little bit of practice will do for you."