Spain�s Juan Carlos Ferrero waiting to decide

These words echo the sentiments of fellow countryman Corretja. He has also made it clear at Roland Garros that his participation at Wimbledon depends on the way the players are seeded.

In the past, the All England Club has chosen to base their seedings only loosely on the world rankings, with a heavy bias towards grass court players with a history of success at SW19.

Last year, Corretja and Albert Costa, both top 16 players, withdrew from Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament because they were left out of the seedings.

This year the All England Club have said they will change their policy to take more account of the world rankings.

But this may not be enough to assuage the clay-court specialists, who feel that a seeding is just reward for their achievements in the course of the year.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament in which the seeds are not taken directly from the world rankings.

Break

Kuerten seems almost certain of missing Wimbledon. "I think it's almost sure," he said.

"I need a break. I think to stop for just four or five days and then to start practising on grass will be too much for me."

Despite losing to Kuerten in the semi-final at Roland Garros, Ferrero has moved provisionally to number one in the Champions Race.

Kuerten is third but will go second if he wins the final, while Corretja has provisionally jumped to seventh, and could move as high as fifth if he wins the Roland Garros final.