LONDON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The All England Club have ruled out the possibility of play on middle Sunday at Wimbledon despite persistent drizzle halting play on Saturday and grim weather forecasts for next week.

Despite enjoying just one fully rain-free day so far this year, chief executive Ian Ritchie said the tournament was still sufficiently on schedule not to order Sunday play for the fourth time.

"Irrespective of the amount of play today, the middle Saturday, I can confirm that we are sufficiently on schedule and that therefore there will be no play tomorrow," said an official statement released at lunchtime in the name of Ritchie.

Wimbledon have played three previous times on middle Sunday, in 1991, 1997 - when Tim Henman famously defeated Dutchman Paul Haarhuis 14-12 in the deciding set - and 2004.

Only three matches were finished on Saturday with defending champion Amelie Mauresmo and second-seeded Maria Sharapova both through to the fourth round before heavy rain hit again in the afternoon.

But many, including three-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, were still waiting for their third round singles matches to be resumed at eleven Monday morning.