It was a long day for Wimbledon fans, and a frustrating one for their favourite player, Tim Henman. But for Mark Philippoussis, it could have been worse.
Philippoussis endured three rain delays and erased a two-set deficit on Wednesday before dampness and darkness forced the suspension of his quarterfinal match against Alexander Popp.
Play was scheduled to resume on Thursday with the unseeded Philippoussis serving and holding a two-point lead, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 2-2, 30-0.
The No. 10-seeded Henman, trying to become the first Englishman
to win Wimbledon since 1936, trailed No. 13 Sebastien Grosjean 7-6
(8), 3-6, 6-3, 1-2. Henman rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the opening set and held four set points in the tiebreaker but couldn’t convert them.
Outside Centre Court, on the terrace nicknamed Henman Hill, thousands of fans followed the match — and delays — on a huge television screen.
”We had thunder and lightning at one point, and the British don’t move,” said Bill Henry of Bath. ”We just sat there and suffered. Watching Henman, we’re suffering anyway.”
Still, fans wanted to see the finish. The Centre Court crowd groaned when tournament referee Alan Mills halted play for the final time.
”It’s too slippery, and there’s fading light,” Mills told the chair umpire and players. ”That’s it for tonight.”
The unseeded Philippoussis, who tied a tournament record with 46 aces in his fourth-round upset of Andre Agassi, had 26 against Popp when play was stopped.
Philippoussis is trying to overcome a two-set deficit for the fourth time in his career.
The other quarterfinals were postponed until Thursday. No. 5 Andy Roddick was scheduled to play unseeded Jonas Bjorkman, and No. 4 Roger Federer was to play No. 8 Sjeng Schalken.
The postponement was a break for Schalken, giving him an extra day to recover from an infection in his left foot.
”I’m really glad that we play in England,” Schalken said. ”I’m very happy it rained today, because today I would have had to play with injections. My foot is getting better for sure.”
While Henman didn’t welcome the rain, he has dealt with it before. He lost to eventual 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic 7-5, 6-7 (6), 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that took three days. That was one of Henman’s four semi-final defeats since 1998.
If he’s eliminated by Grosjean, Henman will look back ruefully on their first set.
Three consecutive passing shots for winners helped Grosjean break serve en route to a 4-1 lead. Then came a one-hour delay.
Play resumed for 4,5 minutes, long enough for Henman to lose his serve again to make it 5-1. Then came more rain.
When sunshine broke through, fans roared. Henman mounted a comeback, and the cheers became even louder.
He broke serve twice, the second time by winning four consecutive points. When he held serve for 5-5, fans waved Union Jacks.
Among those watching on Henman Hill were American Ashley Brown and her Australian boyfriend, Oliver Cartmel, who live in England.
”It’s the entire hopes of one nation resting on the shoulder of one poor guy,” Brown said.
”And these are not massive, Viking-like shoulders, because he’s a bit boyish,” Cartmel added.
In the tiebreaker, Henman served leading 6-3. But Grosjean saved three consecutive set points when Henman floated a volley long, dumped a difficult volley in the net and hit a backhand wide. Henman had another set point at 8-7 but put a backhand in the net. Grosjean hit a lunging volley for a winner, then called a forehand crosscourt for another winner and the set. It took 2 hours, 36 minutes, delays included.
Henman lost his serve in the next game, then broke in the second and eighth games to win the second set and even the match. But he lost his serve twice more in the third set, which Grosjean served out at love. – Sapa-AP