Meanwhile, Wimbledon was today coming to terms with the fact that it faces a potential boycott from the world’s clay-court kings.

Gustavo Kuerten, the charismatic world number one who faces Spain’s Alex Corretja in the French Open final tomorrow, yesterday pulled out of Wimbledon insisting he needed to take a break after months of exertion on clay courts.

And the man he beat in yesterday’s semi-final at Roland Garros, Juan Carlos Ferrero, is poised to do the same.

Ferrero is set to meet with like-minded clay-courters over the next week and insists that if Wimbledon do not change the present seeding system he will not play when the SW19 tournament gets under way in just over two weeks time.

It means Wimbledon could see a mass withdrawal of many of the top players who have played at Roland Garros over the last fortnight.

Ferrero and Co. want Wimbledon to fall in line with the other Grand Slams and seed on world rankings, rather than by proficiency on the surface.

Kuerten said: ‘‘I definitely need the break. I am going to talk with my doctors. But to stop for three or four days and then play on grass again in Wimbledon is too much for me.’’

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Ferrero, who has never played Wimbledon, said: ‘‘Originally I had marked Wimbledon on my calendar and I was looking forward to it.

‘‘Now I am going to take a week off to rest and then I’ll talk to the other players. If they do not respect the rankings when they do the Wimbledon seedings, I won’t play.’’