In a typical piece of Wimbledon understatement, Tim Phillips suggested that the All England Club had undergone a “little bit of mending”. What the chairman meant to say was that the latest and boldest redevelopment of the club is an unmitigated success, and it is a year from fitting the roof that will change the face of the world's greatest tournament for ever.

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive, reasserted the club's belief that the completion of this mammoth operation will “guarantee play, rather than extend it” - a subtle answer to those worried that the arrival of a roof will lead to the Championships following the US Open and Australian Open and incorporating a night session. Such a thought remains anathema to the Championships' executive, which insists that it will “fundamentally maintain the outdoor summer event it has always been”.

For the 2008 Championships there will be more prize-money (a 4.7 per cent rise overall and topping £1million in doubles for the first time), more seats, fewer queues - and, one can only pray, less rain. In the interests of safety, and salubriousness, the public queues will be reduced from two to one, and that one will wind its way through Wimbledon Park Golf Club, rather than along narrow pavements as they have done, offering what the All England Club insists is “better and safer conditions” for fans, including the overnight diehards, and which underlines the desire to retain on-day sales as a key element of ticketing strategy.

And the popularity of the place knows no bounds. John Lloyd, the Great Britain Davis Cup captain, has earmarked No1 Court as the venue for the World Group play-off against Austria in September, on the premise that, whatever the strength of his squad in the light of Andy Murray's insouciance and Jamie Baker's illness, grass will afford them a better chance of victory than any other surface.

Murray's struggles on clay continued yesterday when he let slip a host of break points and was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Mario Ancic in the second round of the Barcelona Open. It was Murray's third meeting with the Croat this year, and his second defeat.