Wimbledon hopes to follow one of its most successful championships in its 122-year history with developments to ensure the world's oldest tournament remains the most prestigious well into the new millennium.

The venerable event enjoyed record attendances thanks to this year's centre court enlargements, and it will have further improvements ready by the year 2000. But there are ongoing discussions aimed at enhancing Wimbledon's situation even more significantly on the world scene.

The All-England club is keen for the tournament to move back a week, enlarging the grass court window in the tour's calendar from four to five weeks and helping to bolster the declining status of this surface.

Wimbledon has been threatened by the success in recent years of tennis on hard and synthetic surfaces, which form by far the larger part of the world circuit. Two of the other four grand slam tournaments dug up their grass, the US Open in the 1970s and the Australian Open in the 1980s. "Grass is our life-blood," says All-England club's chief executive Chris Gorringe. "With an extra week on grass courts, players would find it worthwhile to spend more time and effort playing and practising on it, enhancing its popularity." The change is unlikely to take place within the next two years, partly because the Lawn Tennis Association, the English governing body, would find it difficult to fund an extra tournament. However, three of the most powerful influences in the game - the Grand Slam committee, the ATP Tour and Wimbledon itself - are all said to be in favour of it in the longer term.

Before such a switch becomes possible Wimbledon will have another major new stadium - a relocated court number two on the south side which will ensure further record attendances - and should see eye-catching technological developments resulting from its negotiations with the BBC.

But one thing will remain inexorably the same - the effects of rain. Even though Wimbledon was again at risk of extending to a third week for the third time in 12 years, it remains as strongly opposed as ever to the construction of a centre court roof.

Meanwhile, men's champion Pete Sampras will not complete his search for tennis perfection until he has fulfilled the two remaining requirements critics believe he needs to join the realms of the all-time greats.

Sampras, now level with Australia's Roy Emerson in winning a dozen Grand Slam titles, plans to embrace Davis Cup team tennis in a wholehearted way for the first time. Sampras must also show he is capable of adapting his game to the clay-court demands of the French Open - a tournament he has rarely even looked like winning in 10 attempts.

John Barrett, BBC commentator and former British Davis Cup player, said: "I think it is fair to say that many in the game will still doubt Sampras's standing at the top of the list of all-time greats until he has won the French. His tennis was sublime again at Wimbledon, especially in the final against Andre Agassi, but the French Open remains a huge challenge for him."

Sampras has won more Grand Slam titles now than Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver but Borg won six French titles as well as five at Wimbledon and Laver won at least two of all four. Emerson, who won the Australian Open six times, also triumphed twice in the French, the US Open and Wimbledon.

Sampras next plays for the United States against Australia in Boston on July 12th. He admits that he has finally been turned on to the event - by the drama of compatriots Jim Courier and Todd Martin beating Britain's Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski in the tie at Birmingham in April.

"Last year the number one record was a huge goal for me but maybe I've changed my philosophy a little this year," said Sampras. "I was going to do whatever it took to maintain the ranking, playing six or seven straight weeks if necessary, but the game to me now is to do well at the majors.

"I mean, with Grand Slams, there is so much more at stake than being number one and they are going to be the reason why I'm going to be playing this game in my early to mid-30s before I call it a day."

Sampras, 28 next month, has decided there is a place in his career for Davis Cup involvement and it will bring a major boost to world team-tennis that the best player on the planet is ready to sacrifice some of the single-mindedness that has made the sport a selfish preoccupation.

Sampras could take the place of Todd Martin in the American team in Boston where the Australian squad will be without the injured Mark Philippoussis.

Another world great, John McEnroe, joined mixed doubles partner Steffi Graf yesterday by revealing that he too had finally retired from Wimbledon.

The three-times men's singles champion said he was gutted not to have left on a winning note - he and Graf reached the semi-finals before the German withdrew on Saturday, wanting to protect an injury before her women's singles final.

"This is probably my last Wimbledon and that was a major factor too," McEnroe said. "I didn't want to go out that way. I wanted to try to win the championship and what happened still feels like a punch in the stomach."