Rain Sees No Singles Completed at Wimbledon Friday
Posted on July 3, 2004
Rain cut short both men's semifinal matches Friday at Wimbledon, and set up a nightmare scenario for broadcasters ESPN/NBC/etc. and Wimbledon organizers, with the completion of the men's semis, the women's final, and other assorted doubles and junior matches on Saturday.
The favorites led in the men's semis, with top-seeded Roger Federer leading No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 6-3, 4-3 on serve, and No. 2 Andy Roddick in control against unseeded Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, serving at 6-4, 4-3, 30-40.
Both matches were on simultaneously as afternoon rain forced Wimbledon organizers to play the two semifinals at the same time with darkness setting in.
The men's doubles semifinals were also suspended, with (1)Jonas Bjorkman/Todd Woodbridge leading (7)Wayne Arthurs/Paul Hanley 7-5, 3-4, (16)Julian Knowle/Nenad Zimonjic leading (5)Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor 6-2, 3-6, 3-2.
On court today are (1)Federer vs. (10)Grosjean (to finish), (2)Roddick vs. Baby Goran (to finish), (1)Serena vs. (13)Sharapova, the men's doubles semis in (16)Knowle/Zimonjic vs. (5)Knowles/Nestor (to finish) and (1)Bjorkman/Woodbridge vs. (7)Arthurs/Hanley, and the women's doubles semis in (3)Navratilova/Raymond vs. (5)Huber/Sugiyama, and (1)Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. (6)Black/Stubbs.
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Mario Ancic likes to serve-and-volley. Andy Roddick still won't...Sister Serena Williams has won her last five Grand Slam finals...Bad luck for Mario Ancic getting moved to Court 1. The 20-year-old kid was a perfect 6-0 in sets on Centre Court defeating Roger Federer and Tim Henman...Aussie stick-up-the-ass Todd Woodbridge says countryman Mark Philippoussis should not have been fined for dropping f-bombs in prime time on the BBC: "Mark actually got ripped off. The one thing that I'd wish the officials in the slams would do more of is let the players show more emotion, because everybody wants to see what they're feeling." OK Todd...Boris Becker on getting his hair to stand up, and bopping chicks in broom closets: "I don't use much gel. I just keep running my hands through my hair, keeping the hands going. I'm very lucky, I still have all my hair. I don't have to worry about losing it. I don't have to do anything drastic. It's a natural look." Too much info Boris...Will today's Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova final set off car alarms in the neighboring Wimbledon community with two of the WTA's loudest grunters going at it at the same time? It's going to sound like a porn soundtrack...Here's the contradictory Serena on if she would change anything in her tennis career: "Yeah, there's some days I actually sit down, I think to myself, 'Wow, if I could do it all over again, I would just -- I'd stay on the court a little longer when I was younger and work a little harder.' Not that I didn't work hard. I don't know if I could have worked any harder, but I would have tried. So I wouldn't change anything."...Regardless of what happens in the final, both Serena and Venus Williams will be ranked outside the Top 10...Forecast: Spotty showers on Saturday.