• Wimbledon, Day Three

So much for home advantage

Andy Murray enjoys vociferous support in London © Getty Images

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• Gallery: Wimbledon: Day Three

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Wimbledon Day Three Gallery
Plays of the Day: Day Three Men's round-up: Nadal marches on
Women's round-up: Venus scrapes through
What They Said

When the rain arrived at Wimbledon on Wednesday morning, Andy Murray must have let out a loud sigh.

While on Monday the rain could not stop Murray from marching into the second round, albeit after a sluggish start against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, the roof would be of no use to the Scot on Wednesday after being bumped off Centre Court.

Murray did manage to play his second-round match against Tobias Kamke, and wasted little time as he sealed his place in round three, no thanks to the organisers, who downgraded the British No. 1 onto Court One.

Three-time finalist Andy Roddick was the beneficiary. Roddick's first-round match against Andreas Beck stretched over two days after rain suspended play on Monday. If Roddick had been a victim to the weather on the outside courts, the American would have been forced to play for a fourth straight day.

Organisers defended the decision, insisting they were "maintaining a balanced and fair draw", but as former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe pointed out, the matches on Centre Court should not be chosen in order to merely fulfil the schedule most effectively.

"I'm surprised they chose Andy Roddick against Victor Hanescu because that is not one I see as a Centre Court match," McEnroe said. "I think it is surprising given the weather.

"I'd have understood perfectly if they put [Murray] on Centre Court. If you look at all the other grand slams, favouritism would be the wrong word, but they help their players out - that is normal."

In typical British fashion, the suits at the All England Club believe that maintaining fairness is more important than giving home players their moment in the spotlight.

In Paris last month, the universally popular Roger Federer was bumped onto Court Suzanne Lenglen in favour of an all-French clash between Gael Monfils and wildcard Guillaume Rufin; likewise five-time champion Rafael Nadal made way for Gilles Simon against Jeremy Chardy.

Home favourites Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marion Bartoli, and promising youngsters Caroline Garcia and Mathilde Johansson all had their moment in the spotlight.

Simon, the No. 18 seed played all four of his matches on Court Philippe Chatrier, while Murray, the only Brit expected to make the second week at his home event was relegated to Court One.

Murray was at the mercy of the elements after being moved onto Court One on Wednesday © Getty Images

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Murray spends most of the year travelling the world, and for four weeks he is back on home turf, enjoying home comforts, and would be forgiven for expecting a little bit of preferential treatment at his home slam.

Perhaps like no other player, Murray plays under a huge burden of expectation - often left flying the flag solo for British tennis, and no more so than at the most prestigious tournament, where Britain are without a male champion since Fred Perry in 1936.

Laura Robson is another player who can feel hard done by after being forced to wait three days to get her Wimbledon campaign underway. The former girls' champion had to hang around until 8pm on Tuesday night to find out her first-round match against Angelique Kerber had been cancelled.

Robson was denied the chance to play on Centre Court as organisers opted to move Maria Sharapova instead. Robson, third on Court 18 eventually booked her place in the second round on Wednesday evening, but will have less than 24 hours' rest before taking on the 2004 champion Sharapova.

For two weeks of the year, the British public become huge tennis fans, and flock in their thousands to the All England Club for their annual dose of strawberries and Pimm's. The American crowd would expect to see the likes of Roddick and Serena Williams given the best possible chance at the US Open, and Murray and Co. should expect similar favouritism at their home slam.

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