**** For full coverage of Wimbledon click here ****

Lindsay Davenport believes she has survived to the ripe old age of 32 in tennis because she took two lengthy breaks from the stamina-sappping demands of the globe-trotting sport.

At 25, Justine Henin was world number one and dominated the sport. Many years of Grand Slam triumphs beckoned. But then she abruptly announced her retirement last month. The fire had gone.

Like her Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters who quit the year before at 23, Henin was suffering from the scourge that threatens to decimate the sport — burnout.

Former Wimbledon champion Davenport, who pulled out of the tournament on Thursday with a right knee injury, said “There was definitely some times in my career where I’ve been burnt out.”

What gave her longevity was stepping off the treadmill.

“I’ve had two really long breaks and they’ve both really helped me tremendously kind of get the fire back burning,” the American player said.

But, in a bittersweet press conference where she hinted at retirement but still longed to compete at the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. Open, she waxed most eloquent when talking to reporters about the progress of her baby son.

“He’s almost walking. He’s very vocal … Yeah, he’s a love,” Davenport told reporters.

The players feel at times they are stretched to the limit by the demands of a glamorous sport that takes them round and round the world on an interminable merry-go-round.

Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, knocked out of Wimbledon in a second round shock, feels the WTA, the sport’s ruling body, is ignorant of the players’ needs.

“Your voice is never being heard,” she complained.

World number two Rafael Nadal put it even more bluntly: “The calendar is impossible.”

Both the ATP, which rules men’s tennis, and the WTA have made plans to shorten the season from 2009.

The WTA is trimming the current 25 Tier I and II events down to 20 and WTA vice-president communications Andrew Walker stressed to Reuters at Wimbledon: “The health and well being of players is the number one priority.”

Keeeping a wary eye on teenage prodigies who could fall by the wayside, he said: “The tour’s eligibility rules that allow for graduated doses (of playing time) for younger players has resulted in an increase in player careers by 24 percent and a reduction in burnout to less than one percent.”

But from fashion shoots to endless media interviews, the players will inevitably face continuing pressures as the sport and its big business sponsors battle to give tennis maximum exposure on the world stage.

** Click here for full coverage of Wimbledon 2008 **

First came Serena’s raincoat and Roger’s cardigan. But it was Maria Sharapova’s white tuxedo and shorts that upped the fashion stakes at the world’s most famous tournament. The 21-year-old Russian said she wanted to do something classy for Wimbledon so she decided to step up a gear in the tennis fashion parade when appearing on court for the first time in 2008.

“It’s the tuxedo look. I was very inspired by menswear this year and every time at Wimbledon I want to do something classy and elegant,” she said after seeing off French qualifier Stephanie Foretz 6-1 6-4.

“This year I said why don’t we do shorts and I have never worn shorts before at a grand slam. There is a place to do it and that’s Wimbledon,” the former Wimbledon champion told BBC television right after stepping off court.

At a sun-kissed Wimbledon on Monday, Serena Williams took to the court wearing a white raincoat. On a gloriously hot afternoon, defending champion Roger Federer opted for a white cardigan after two years sporting a white blazer.

Sharapova missed seeing Williams’ raincoat but loved Federer’s cardigan. “I thought that was classic. It was beautiful,” she told reporters.

Her post-match press conference was dominated by questions about fashion. Sharapova, relaxed and laughing, was happy to answer them all.

“I love how 10 of the questions are about what we are wearing. It’s amazing,” she said.

Working within Wimbledon’s strict dress code is a challenge she relishes. “You know it’s hard to do things different with white — there’s only so much you can do,” she said.

Sharapova was clearly relieved to have got her first match out of the way at the tournament where she became an instant overnight sensation with her win as teenager, the first of her three Grand Slam wins.

“It was great to get out there and get a feel for Court Number One. It was my first match on grass this year so I did pretty well considering,” she said.

“You never know what is going to happen. You can have a great practice week, you can have a terrible practice week and then go out on court and things can feel totally different.”

She even found time at the end of her press conference to wish Russia well in the European soccer championship after their defeat of the Netherlands in the quarter finals.

“I am so proud they got through that. It was kind of nerve-wracking when it was tied five minutes left into the game. You know we’re brave, we are strong, we work hard at what we do. Good things happen.”

** Click here for full coverage of Wimbledon 2008 **

At few other world sporting events do so many queue for so long.

Wimbledon , by dint of its allowing fans to just turn up on the day without booking, has always attracted vast numbers of the ticketless, either casual, after-work visitors or the more diehard types who come armed with tent and supplies to see the likes of Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova compete.

Draped with plastic sheets against the rain, bedded down on the hard pavement, those in for the long haul often insisted to interviewers — rather unconvincingly — that the wait was part of the fun.

Now, however, the queue has indeed become more civilised with the opening up of the nearby Wimbledon Park to tennis campers. The wide open spaces of this Capability Brown-designed gem, just a stone’s throw from the All England club, are a world away from the cramped pavements of Church Road. There are lockers to store tents and sleeping bags and plenty of space for all. Plenty of public tennis courts too. The only drawback is the strict 6 a.m. wake-up call.

The queue itself, however, remains a daunting beast, snaking around the park and the adjacent golf course, seemingly for miles. The All England club has even issued a Guide to Queuing handbook to lay down the ground rules. For queue information click here

Waiting patiently in line is of course a British speciality and some of the regulars do genuinely seem to enjoy the atmosphere — but for less patient souls, here’s all you need to know to enter the ballot next year and walk straight in.

** Click here for full coverage of Wimbledon 2008 **

Immaculate as the lawns of the All England club may be, their continuing use as a surface for playing tennis is a matter of growing debate.

Clay court players have always hated the way the ball comes off grass so fast and low, and while ordinary mortals can get over a bad bounce and go on to lead normal lives, you sometimes wonder about the pro players.

They used to say about the great Argentine Guillermo Vilas that he played on grass like he’d been smoking it — and a whole host of of clay and all-weather court specialists have had real problems with the annual switch in the last week of June to the Wimbledon lawns.

Is it time for Wimbledon to stop holding out as the only Grand Slam event left on grass? Or is there room for a variety of surfaces in tennis?