Retiring referee Alan Mills is convinced that Britain will produce another Wimbledon champion, even if he is not around to witness it. Andy Murray's brave third round defeat by David Nalbandian, which followed the second round exits of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, left Britain without a single representative in the second week of Wimbledon. But Mills, who retires at the end of the championships after 21 years in office, bows out confident that the country is edging ever closer to bridging the gap between Fred Perry's last British triumph in 1936. "It's a source of the country's regret that we haven't had a British champion (since)," said Mills. "It will happen. I'm sure it will happen eventually. The LTA seem to be moving in the right direction. "There's a lot more tournaments in the country and there are a lot more facilities for rising players to improve. I just feel that, somewhere along the line, somebody like Andy Murray is going to break through. How long that will take, who knows?" Murray, of course, is the big British hope and Mills believes he is destined to go all the way as long as he remains level-headed. "He stands out like a shining light at the moment," he said. "I hope he continues the way he is. You can see he obviously wants it. I just hope that he can keep a level head as he is improving and getting a lot more publicity." Murray is certain to be back next year but for Mills any future involvement will be purely as a spectator as he prepares to hang up his clipboard and calculator. As he looks back over two decades as Wimbledon's very own "Rain Man", he reflected on the highs and lows of being in the spotlight at one of the greatest shows on earth. "The main highlight has to be the first middle Sunday, when there was lots of enthusiasm and lots of atmosphere," he said. "It was the first time I've ever seen the Centre Court full when the first ball was hit at 12 o'clock and still full at nine o'clock at night when the last ball was hit. "As for the low points, they are always brought about by the weather, always the weather. From my point of view, it's always a low point if we can't finish the tournament by the second Sunday. My main priority is to get the tournament finished on time." Mills has presided over a period of great transition and that will continue with the installation of a roof over Centre Court. The next immediate change will be the handover of power to assistant referee Andy Jarrett and Mills will pass on a few tips before he goes. "Find your own mind and keep a cool head," he said. "He will also need a certain amount of mathematical involvement with the order of play, that logistical type of thing." | 
