Rain pain for Rusedski

British number three Greg Rusedski was kept waiting by the rain as bad weather continued to wreak havoc on the third day of the 118th Wimbledon Championships with no play possible before 4.30pm.

Rusedski had been due to meet Italian Davide Sanguinetti in a first-round clash on court one which had been held over from yesterday because of rain.

All England Club officials have cancelled all second-round ties involving the top half of the men’s draw and the bottom section of the women’s.

Rain had been falling intermittently throughout the morning and afternoon although hopes rose when the sun broke through at 2.40pm and again 20 minutes later, only for heavy drizzle to return.

Defending champion Roger Federer was one of five top 10 men’s seeds to fall foul of the weather.

The top-seeded Swiss was scheduled to face Colombian Alejandro Falla in the fourth match to be played on court one.

Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya and Sebastien Grosjean must all wait until tomorrow for the chance to advance to the third round.

In the women’s draw the rain hit the clash between third seed Venus Williams and Croatian Karolina Sprem.

French Open champion Anastasia Myskina and 1999 Wimbledon winner Lindsay Davenport must also wait for the skies to clear.

British fans hoping to see homegrown talent were also left frustrated by the weather.

Anne Keothavong, one of four British women to reach the second round for the first time in 15 years, was due to meet 13th seed Maria Sharapova in an eagerly-anticipated clash on court 18.

Emily-Webley Smith, a wild card like British number one Keothavong, must now defer her match against 31st-seeded American Amy Frazier.

Inclement weather interrupted play on both the first two days, with 45 first-round matches still to be completed.

Organisers are encouraged by the forecast for the end of the week and have no plans yet to use the middle Sunday to make up for lost time.

“We’re not unduly concerned,” said tournament referee Alan Mills this morning.

“Officially, we’re 45 matches behind and, if we were thinking of playing on Sunday, that would not be until Friday. Obviously, we would like not to play on the middle Sunday.”

The middle Sunday has been used just twice in the 118-year history of the championships. In 1991 only 52 out of a scheduled 240 matches were completed by the end of the fourth day while in 1997 two days were completely washed out.

Organisers also have the option of making earlier starts in a bid to reduce the backlog.

Members of the public have been assured they are entitled to a full refund if there is less than one hour’s play throughout the day.