Tim Henman Falters, Recovers in Opening Win at Wimbledon

Posted on June 23, 2004

"Our Tim," "Brave Tim," "Gentleman Tim," or if you're outside Britain, "That chalky Brit" Tim Henman found himself two points away from an 0-2 set deficit against unheralded Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo before rallying for a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-2 win in his opening match Tuesday at Wimbledon.

"I definitely got a little bit frustrated at times on the court," Henman said. "There were some positives aspects and there were a few aspects that I was struggling with...I didn't play my best today."

Henman framed his slow start in a historical perspective.

"You look at some of my past Wimbledons, the first round has not always been the easiest or the most straightforward," Henman said. "But in this tournament you only get one chance, don't you? You've got to find a way to win...I was able to do that. That's a big positive."

A big negative on the other hand was the lackluster effort put forth by former No. 1 Marat Safin of Russia, who fought neither bravely nor gentlemanly, nor did anyone claim him as "Our Marat" in a four-set loss to up-and-coming countryman Dmitry Tursunov.

"I give up on Wimbledon," said the No. 19-seeded Safin, who resumed his tanking ways in the face of a hard-hitting opponent and his difficulties on the lawns. "Is definitely not the tournament for me...I hate. I hate this. I have to admit it. It's like a nightmare for me. So after a while, I just get bored. I lost completely motivation, and I give up...I think it's the last (Wimbledon)."

Other seeded winners among the matches completed, on the second straight day cut short by rain, were (9)Carlos Moya (d. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience 6-1 in the fifth), (11)Mark Philippoussis (d. C.Rochus for his first tournament match-win since January), (14)Mardy Fish (d. Navarro Pastor), (18)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. (WC)Bloomfield), and (32)Hicham Arazi (d. Sa).

Seeds joining Safin on the sidelines Tuesday were (16)Jiri Novak (l. to Malisse), (23)Max "The Beast Who's Allergic to Grass" Mirnyi (l. to Gambill), and (28)Ivan Ljubicic (l. to W.Ferreira in four).

Other un-seeds into the second round were Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze (d. Vliegen in four), Germany's Florian Mayer (d. Arthurs in three breakers), Spain's Al Montanes (d. Ulihrach), Yen-Hsun Lu (d. Vacek in four), Frenchman Cyril Saulnier (d. countryman Llodra in four), Armenian Sargis Sargsian (d. M.Lopez in four), cannon-serving Swede Joachim Johansson (d. Clement), Slovak Karol Kucera (d. O.Hernandez), Austria's Alexander Peya (d. Salzenstein), Dutchman Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk (d. Davydenko in four), and Swiss Ivo Heuberger (d. Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta in four).

Matches halted in progress due to the rain, to be completed Wednesday are (2)Andy Roddick leading Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 4-2, (3)Guillermo Coria leading Wesley Moodie 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-7 (3), 5-3, Robin Soderling leading (8)Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 3-6, 1-0, Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp leading (15)Nicolas Massu 6-2, 4-4, (20)Tommy Robredo leading "You Say" Potito Starace 6-4, 6-4, 3-3, (26)Taylor Dent leading Ramon Delgado 6-2, 6-3, 5-4, (30)Vince Spadea tied with Todd Reid 1-1, Antony Dupuis leading Tommy Haas 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(8), 2-3, Dennis Van Scheppingen leading Stefano Pescosolido 6-4, 6-4, 2-3, Brit Mark Hilton leading Albert Costa 5-1, Brit Jonathan Marray leading Karol Beck 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-1, "Julio &" Galo Blanco leading Thomas Enqvist 6-4, 2-3, and David Ferrer leading Victor Hanescu 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-6.

Wednesday on the men's schedule reads as (2)Roddick vs. Wang (to finish), Labadze vs. (7)Hewitt, (3)Coria vs. Moodie (to finish), Rusedski vs. Sanguinetti, (1)Federer vs. Falla, (WC)Childs vs. (12)Schalken, Ivanisevic vs. Volandri, (WC)Hilton vs. A.Costa (to finish), Koubek vs. (6)Ferrero, (20)Robredo vs. Starace (to finish), (21)Chela vs. Burgsmuller, (9)Moya vs. Stepanek, (WC)Marray vs. Beck (to finish), (26)Dent vs. R.Delgado (to finish), Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. (33)Luis "Me So" Horna, J.Johansson vs. (14)Fish, Reid vs. (30)Spadea (to finish), (10)Grosjean vs. Carraz in an all-French, Ferrer vs. Hanescu (to finish), Benneteau vs. Berdych, (18)F.Lopez vs. Saulnier, (25)Hrbaty vs. D.Sanchez, (27)Ginepri vs. Verdasco, Popp vs. (15)Massu (to finish), (24)Gonzalez vs. Vassallo Arguello, Soderling vs. (8)Schuettler (to finish), Santoro vs. T.Johansson, T.Martin vs. Canas, (17)Bjorkman vs. Lu, Van scheppingen vs. Pescosolido (to finish), Andreev vs. Van Lottum, Sargsian vs. Tursunov, A.Ram vs. (22)Pavel, Bracciali vs. Gambill, Carlsen vs. Gasquet, Elseneer vs. Karlovic, Dupuis vs. Haas (to finish), Mantilla vs. Pless, and Blanco vs. Enqvist (to finish).

Serena Cracks Before Media Onslaught at Wimbledon

On the women's side Tuesday at Wimbledon, top-seeded Serena Williams looked shaky while still thoroughly disposing of China's Jie Zheng 6-3, 6-1.

"I wanted to try out some things and the first round is the time to do them," said Serena, who while showing poor movement and form, insisted that in the 'Serena Reality,' everything is fine.

"I am playing good," said Serena, desperate to impose her confidence on the assembled media. "You never hear me say I am playing good so that is pretty bold and confident for me to say that."

In addition to not needing a coach, Serena is apparently not in need of a p.r. person either.

Unfortunately the house of cards that is Serena's mental facade fell down when, after being presses by journalists about her 24 unforced errors during the match, the younger Williams cracked.

"Well, I'm going to come in here, you guys are going to coach me now? You guys are going to be coaches now? You're going to talk about unforced errors?" snapped Serena at the assembled journalists. "Feel free to come out on the practice court if you guys want to help out."

Hey journos, you should have learned from last year's French Open that reality is whatever Serena says it is, don't question the queen.

Other seeds in the winner's circle Tuesday before rain cut the schedule short were (10)Nadia Petrova (d. Pennetta in three), (15)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (d. Morigami), (20)Elena Bovina (d. (Q)Gallovits), (25)Nathalie Dechy (d. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues), and (32)Meghann Shaughnessy (d. American countrywoman Irvin in two breakers).

Four seeds were ousted on the day, the foremost (8)Svetlana Kuznetsova in a shocker (l. to (Q)Razzano in three), joined by another Russian in (8)Elena Dementieva (l. to Sandra "Calvin" Kleinova in three), (17)Chanda Rubin (l. to Bartoli), and (30)Eleni Daniilidou (l. to Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna).

Other un-seeds into the second round were Spanish qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. Mandula), Daniela Hantuchova (d. Reeves), Italy's Maria Elena Camerin (d. Barna), Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Groenefeld), Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Martina "Nurse, Hand Me a" Sucha 1-and-0), Brit wildcard Elena Baltacha (d. Marrero), Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. Jankovic in three), Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi (d. Snyder, who retired in the first with a knee injury), qualifier Stephanie Foretz (d. Cohen-Aloro), another Brit wildcard in Jane O'Donoghue (d. Lee-Waters in three), Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. Granville in three), and Russian Elena Likhovtseva (d. Leon Garcia).

One match was halted due to the rain, with Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo leading Brit wildcard Katie O'Brien 6-4, 5-4, 0-15, serving for the match.

On court Wednesday are (4)Mauresmo vs. Kostanic, (3)Venus vs. Sprem, (7)Capriati vs. Schaul, (24)Pierce vs. Ruano Pascual, Kapros vs. (2)Myskina, (29)Safina vs. Parra Santonja, Dulko vs. (WC)Navratilova, (31)Frazier vs. (WC)Webley-Smith, Golovin vs. Jidkova, (9)Suarez vs. Perry, Obata vs. (12)Zvonareva, Strycova vs. Talaja, Vakulenko vs. Hopkins, Perebiynis vs. Wheeler, Washington vs. Panova, Sequera vs. (22)Martinez, Sun vs. Garbin, Kleinova vs. Tanasugarn, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. (WC)O'Brien (to finish), Kremer vs. (19)Zuluaga, Srebotnik vs. Chladkova, Peng vs. (14)Farina Elia, Asagoe vs. (26)Raymond, Schett vs. Cervanova, Koukalova vs. (11)Sugiyama, (32)Shaughnessy vs. Llagostera Vives, Grande vs. Santangelo in an all-Italy, Bartoli vs. Camerin, Krasnoroutskaya vs. Nagyova, Ashley vs. (27)Molik, (13)Sharapova vs. Brit (WC)Keothavong (On Court 18? Nice scheduling), (5)Davenport vs. Brandi, (18)Schiavone vs. Casanova, Harkleroad vs. Callens, and Craybas vs. (21)Maleeva.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Due to the rain, 45 first round singles matches have been pushed into Wednesday...Guillermo Coria is the only player who has had to play every day...Andy Roddick hit a 141mph early on in his match with Jimmy Wang...Joachim Johansson hit a tournament-high 35 aces in his straight-set first round win...Mark Philippoussis won his first first round match since January...Carlos Moya has never been past the second round at Wimbledon...Why is the Martina Navratilova-Gisella Dulko match way out on Court 3. That deserves a higher placement than that...Yo, ESPN's Chris Fowler, when are you going to drop the drab and start ripping on players like at the French?...What's up with South African hottie Amanda Coetzer just calling it quits? One of the interns is going through withdrawal at the thought of never again seeing the scampering blonde wear down opponents. At least play through the end of the year, eh? Do it for the kids. Coetzer's agent says the 32-year-old's retirement is a professional decision, and has nothing to do with her romance with the 57-year-old Hollywood movie producer of LA Confidential, Pretty Woman, Runaway Jury and JFK...Mary Pierce is back in the Top 25 for the first time since June 2001...John McEnroe says Roger Federer could end his career as the best ever: "Federer has the potential to be the best player who ever lived. That might sound like a big thing to say, but I see him as having the ability to be that dominant. Federer is filled with confidence at the moment. He's the reigning champion, he won the Australian Open and everything is going the way he wanted it. His only shaky point all year was the French Open, but that doesn't change my opinion of him. He's not up to the same level as Pete Sampras yet in terms of titles won, but he has every shot in the game, plus the power and calmness under pressure to back it up. He's even inventing shots. That forehand half-volley he hits with power is a phenomenal shot -- he makes it look too easy."...Goran Ivanisevic says he's ever harder to beat at this Wimbledon because he doesn't give a rat: "If I play well, nobody's going to beat me easy, especially since I don't have any goals. I'm retiring after this Wimbledon. I'm going to enjoy myself every minute on the court. If somebody wants to beat me, he's going to have to play really good tennis."...Marat Safin's foul mood after getting spanked by a young Russian Tuesday extended to his opinion of tennis at the Olympics: "Tennis doesn't need the Olympic Games. We have four grand slams. We have (the Masters Series). We have a lot of tournaments. We have a pretty tough schedule. And now we are going to have the Olympics. I have to (go). But it is not my goal in life to win the Olympic Games -- ask Marc Rosset (Olympic tennis gold medalist in 1992). He will tell you the same. He won it. He is not really proud of it and just saying 'I won the Olympic Games. It's great. It feels unbelievable and it's the best thing that will happen in his life.' Of course you are more playing for your country than for yourself. But I'm not excited at all to go there. I think for tennis players there is nothing bigger than the grand slams." Like the grand slam match you just tanked?...That's a nasty close-up on the ESPN tennis site today, with the fat rippling down Serena's thigh, get that off there, we need to eat breakfast...How bad is Martina Hingis as an announcer for ESPN? "I'm a rookie here," Hingis said. "I take whatever I can from the announcers. I'm not afraid of criticism." OK, here we go. Your English is not good enough to be on ESPN (are they that desperate?), you have little to draw on at the age of 23 except your "When I played..." stories, and you come across at not so bright. You need to hit the Challenger circuit for announcers, then check back in a couple years, try The Tennis Channel, or a local FOX affiliate...Hey ESPN's Greg Garber, what the hell are you doing writing stories about ESPN announcer Martina Hingis (was that a tough interview?) and how Tim Henman is back on track after a French Open SF (how'd you figure that out)? Start a "Ugly American-London" column, grab a Stella, wander about and entertain us, write it up...No. 20-seeded Russian Elena Bovina has pulled from Wimbledon with an ab injury. The pull gives Daniela Hantuchova the first spot in the third round...Former Soviet Wimbledon finalist Alex Metreveli on Marat Safin's Wimbledon effort: "He was playing like he was doing everyone a big favor by being here. He was acting as if he played here every day, it was just ordinary for him. It was totally unprofessional on his part."...Serena Williams described herself as "an amazing English (soccer) fan," describing player Wayne Rooney as a "sweetie," but from there her grasp of the game seemed shaky. When asked which club she supported, she replied: "Whichever team Rooney plays for...I saw England were one-love down and I was really nervous but when they made a goal, I was like 'Yes!' I was watching it in my house and I was screaming, thinking 'Why am I screaming so hard?' I can't believe I'm talking the lingo now." Brit journos got a good laugh out of that one...From The Independent: While (Martina Navratilova) was on Court Two storming to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over the hapless 24-year-old Colombian, Catalina Castano, the Englishwoman, Amanda Janes, was losing her match against Ai Sugiyama, of Japan. And the significance of that? Navratilova's first opponent back in 1973 was Amanda Janes' mother, the 1961 runner-up Christine Truman-Janes, whom the Czech ingenue despatched 6-1, 6-4. Indeed, it should surprise nobody if Navratilova is still playing at Wimbledon when Amanda's daughter, Christine's grand-daughter, makes her debut. Keeping up with the Janeses, so to speak."...Martina Navratilova is the oldest player to win a match at Wimbledon in the Open Era...Designer Donatella Versace recently made a winning bid of $25,000 at a charity auction in Monte Carlo to secure a one-hour tennis lesson with Serena Williams...Forecast: Stormy, windy and rainy most of the day with periods of sunshine.