WIMBLEDON, June 27: With the rains showing no signs of abating, the discussion veered around to the fact whether Wimbledon should have had a roof over the courts, at least over the new court No 1. People paid over 24 pounds for a court No 1 seat yesterday only to see rain the entire day.

The line of thought is that had the roof been there the chances of some play would have been bright. Option to have a roof over court No 1 was discussed during the conceptualising stage but the plans were shelved and the All England Club (AEC) went ahead with 20 million pounds, 11,000 seater without a roof.

``It is an old chestnut,'' Tim Phillips, of the Order of Play sub-committee, said yesterday. ``The issue is, you have one roof on one court, on what is basically an outdoor tournament, how material is the benefit.'' The biggest argument against having a roof here is that players ought to compete under the same conditions.

But what about the paying public ? They are entitled to some tennis if they have bought some expensive tickets. For those unfortunate hundreds who had centre court and court No 1 tickets, their chance to watch some tennis on these courts comes only next year when they will get priority when tickets are being allocated for these courts, apart from the full refund.

Another line of argument is, if they can build one in Australia, why not at Wimbledon. But then it is difficult see a cover being brought over Centre Court because it will have to be completely reconstructed. Says Alan Mills, referee of the tournament, ``In Australia, the players are not happy with just one court with the roof as basically they are there to play an outdoor tournament and suddenly they go indoors, and you have had the situation there where it's rained, so you have started to close the roof, and by the time the roof has closed, it's dry outside, because it takes a long time to close.''

The Gerry Weber Open, which is held in the German town of Halle on grass a week before the Championships, has a retractable perspex roof which can cover a centre court seating 12,000 people. The stadium cost 15 million pound and a third of it was spent on the roof which can close fully in 90 seconds and lets in 98 per cent of sunlight. The German Open at Hamburg will also have a roof for next year.

However, Mills says that the roof over the court in Halle has actually ruined it. ``Two years ago, in Halle, it rained solidly during the qualifying and they played all their matches on the court that was covered. For the rest of the week, it was like playing on clay, `'

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.