Wimbledon referee defends no play on middle Sunday

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) Wimbledon organisers have defended their stance not to play on the middle Sunday of the rain-hit championships amid growing criticism from players.

Officials are struggling to clear a backlog of matches after eight days of rain severely disrupted the schedule but tournament referee Andrew Jarrett was confident the singles finals would still take place over the weekend as expected.

''At the moment we can finish on Sunday and that is what we are planning to do but obviously that can change,'' Jarrett told reporters.

The relentless rain left the soggy championships 177 matches behind schedule with five days to go but by the end of Wednesday, the drier conditions cut the backlog to 36 in the five major competitions.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were particularly irritated that they were unable to complete their third round matches until yesterday, four days behind schedule, and hit out at officials for not allowing play on the middle Sunday, a traditional rest day.

Three times in past championships matches have been staged on the middle Sunday when rain played havoc with the opening week's schedule.

''You can only make decisions based on facts and the fact is on Saturday morning when the decision needed to be taken we were exactly where we wanted to be singles-wise,'' said Jarrett.

''We couldn't have played another singles further ahead than where we were at the time.

''We were also faced with a weather forecast that was less than promising for Sunday. There was no justification for it.

''What has hurt is having a subsequent bad Monday and Tuesday and that has given us the backlog. Then you can apply hindsight, which certainly didn't apply on Saturday.'' Despite showers being forecast for Sunday, the day turned out mostly dry.

Some players in the bottom half of the men's draw, which includes Nadal and Djokovic, face the prospect of having to play every day this week if they are to contest Sunday's final.

The last time Wimbledon failed to finish on schedule was in 2001, when wildcard Goran Ivanisevic pulled off a five-set win over Pat Rafter on the third Monday of the slam.

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

Reuters PDS DB2114