Wimbledon's slowing grass courts are hastening the end of serve-volley in tennis, former world number one Mats Wilander said on Monday.
"I'm personally very disappointed [at] the way they are making Wimbledon these days," Wilander told reporters.
"We're slowly losing the style of playing tennis which is the serve and volley."
Wilander, Sweden's non-playing captain for this weekend's Davis Cup World Group play-off tie in New Delhi, said ideally players should mix serve and volley with a solid baseline game.
"But we are slowly losing that because the grass courts in Wimbledon are getting slower and slower," said the 41-year-old, winner of seven Grand Slam titles in the 1980s.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament to be played on grass. The French Open is played on clay and the Australian and US Opens on hard courts.
Wilander said he believed such courts did not help Britain realise their dream of producing a first homegrown men's champion since Fred Perry won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1936, despite having two serve-volleyers in their ranks.
"I'm not sure what they are thinking in England because you have [British] players like Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski," he said.
"England might be the only country in the world who don't actually try and [prepare courts to] suit them. It seems they are doing everything they can for them not to win."
