Wimbledon Starts with Rain-Out; Venus Strikes at Unequal Pay

Meanwhile, on Court 13, British fans following home hope Naomi Cavaday -- ranked 517 in the world -- had seen the 17-year-old from Kent battle back from 4-0 down to 4-5 against 18th seed Ai Sugiyama when the rain came, albeit a precious few minutes later than on the two showpiece courts a few hundred metres further along the Grounds of the Club.

Today's delays were just the ninth time in history that more than two hours play had been lost to inclement weather on the opening day of The Championships, the most recent back in 2004 when the further bad weather that week saw the tournament arrange play on the middle Sunday to clear the backlog of fixtures.

Only three post-war opening days have been completely washed out -- in 1949, 1987 and 1991.

Many will not be surprised to hear that this is the 10th Wimbledon in a row to be affected by the rain.

To keep you occupied during the delay, here are some rain-related facts from the Wimbledon record books:

The first Wimbledon at the current Church Road site played in 1922, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary, was beset by rain. Play was due to start on the historic first day at 2.45pm but it wasn't until 3.45pm that play could begin. It rained on every day of The Championships that year and the tournament wasn't completed until the third Wednesday.

In 1955, a tremendous downpour flooded the tunnels adjacent to Centre Court.

Thirty years later, in 1985, a dramatic storm on the afternoon of the second Friday saw more than an inch of rain falling in 20 minutes.

In 1991, the weather in the first week of Wimbledon was so bad that, after four days, only 54 of the 240 matches had been completed. This prompted the first ever play on the Middle Sunday. The queue to get in snaked for one-and-a-half miles and the attendance of 24,894 provided an unforgettable atmosphere in the Grounds as ordinary fans took seats that might on other days be filled by hospitality guests. The day became known as 'The People's Sunday'.

2004 was one of the wettest Wimbledons in history with two days completely washed out and only the first Friday and second Monday and Tuesday free of interruptions. This was the most recent year that saw the gates open for play on the Middle Sunday.
-- Wimbledon.org

Clijsters, Hingis Resume Play, Henin-Hardenne In Action

LONDON, UK -- Just two weeks after Roland Garros, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stars reunite at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year. Four Top 10 players, including world No.2 Kim Clijsters and No.3 Justine Henin-Hardenne, take the court on Tuesday, along with former No.1 Martina Hingis.

(2) Kim Clijsters (BEL) vs. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) -- Clijsters leads 2-0

Clijsters opens her 2006 Wimbledon campaign against one of the most dangerous unseeded players in the draw, Zvonareva. Provided the Russian has fully recovered from the right Achilles strain that forced her to retire from Eastbourne (while playing Clijsters) last week, the Belgian will have her hands full with the former Top 10 player. Just over a week ago, Zvonereva claimed the grass court tune-up title at Birmingham, her fourth Tour singles triumph. Clijsters presented herself in solid grass court form last week with a run to the semis at Eastbourne.

(3) Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) vs. Yuan Meng (CHN) -- First meeting

Henin-Hardenne's second Roland Garros title last year had a bitter after-taste. The Belgian became the first reigning Roland Garros winner to lose in the first round at Wimbledon, falling in a tight three-setter to Eleni Daniilidou. After capturing her third French Open crown three weeks ago, she will make sure the same thing won't happen again. If she carries over her game from last week at Eastbourne, where she captured her fourth Tour singles title of the year, she shouldn't have many problems with first round opponent, Yuan. The 19-year-old is making her Wimbledon debut and has never made it past the quarters of a Tour singles event (2005 Bangkok).

(5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs. (Q) Romina Oprandi (ITA) -- Kuznetsova leads 1-0

Kuznetsova knows her first round match-up with Oprandi won't be a cake walk. The Russian felt the Italian breathing down her neck last month in the semifinals of Rome, saving a match point at 3-5 in the third set but eventually prevailing, 64 57 76(4). Oprandi had her career breakthrough at that event, reaching the quarters as a qualifier. Kuznetsova suffered a loss to compatriot Anastasia Myskina last week in the Eastbourne semifinals, so she might enter this match with some fire in her belly.

(8) Patty Schnyder (SUI) vs. Antonella Serra Zanetti (ITA) -- Serra Zanetti leads 1-0

This is a rather unpleasant deja-vu for Schnyder, who lost her Wimbledon opener last year to Serra Zanetti, 64 67(7) 63. Schnyder has never fared particularly well at this event. Her best result here was a third round finish five years ago. The 27-year-old is entering Wimbledon without any grass court tournament preparation. Serra Zanetti, on the other hand, played at Birmingham and Eastbourne but without success.

(10) Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) vs. Klara Koukalova (CZE) -- Series tied 1-1

Vaidisova is entering this match-up in the best shape of her life. After capturing her sixth Tour singles title at Strasbourg, she followed up with a terrific run to the Roland Garros semis. Not only did she upset Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round, she also knocked out former world No.1 Venus Williams in the quarters. The 17-year-old then withdrew from Eastbourne due to fatigue. She can't afford to be tired against Koukalova, who has one Tour singles grass court title to her credit (2005 's-Hertogenbosch). Vaidisova won the last meeting in three sets last year in Philadelphia but Koukalova won two years ago at the Japan Open.

(12) Martina Hingis (SUI) vs. Olga Savchuk (UKR) -- First meeting

Former world No.1 Hingis is aiming for her 20th Wimbledon match win. In her seven previous Wimbledon appearances, the Swiss has gone through a series of highs and lows. In 1997, she thrilled the tennis world by becoming the youngest champion in the Open Era at 16 years, nine months and five days. But in 1999 and 2001, the Swiss suffered a couple of shocking first round losses, both times crashing out as the No.1 seed. Hingis has not competed here since 2001 but is coming off a run to the Roland Garros quarterfinals. Her opponent, Savchuk, is making her Wimbledon debut.
-- WTA
 
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARB
Tim Henman is unseeded at Wimbledon for the first time since 1996...While Heineken and Stella Artois are popular sponsors of pro tennis events, the American-brewed Budweiser is getting flack in Germany as the official beer of the World Cup as reported by David Hiltbrand of Knight Ridder: "Although Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser is one of America's biggest brands, it gets little respect in Germany, the ancestral homeland of the Busch brewing family, where it has been derided as spuelwasser -- dishwater. Germany's age-old beer-purity law, limiting ingredients to water, yeast, barley and hops, effectively kept out the king of beers -- made with rice -- until the hurdle was lifted in 1987. "Germany's beer lovers can already taste defeat," read a headline on a Times of London article. It called Budweiser's World Cup sponsorship a slap in the face for a country that takes pride in its high-quality beer production, with a whopping 1,274 breweries. "Most pubs don't even stock it," Walter Koenig of the Bavarian Breweries' Association told the paper. "Bavarian beer should be available in a Bavarian stadium -- Munich -- for the first kickoff. But what can we do? Budweiser paid $40 million for the concession even before Germany had been chosen to host the tournament." Nicholas von Hoffman wrote in the Nation that German youths mounted a Web site (www.budout.org) depicting "Teutonic youths performing extreme anti-Bud acts." Franz Maget, a Bavarian Social Democrat, was quoted as calling Budweiser "the worst beer in the world."...The ATP announced the appointment of the new ATP Player Council and re-election of Board member Jacco Eltingh during the Wimbledon general player meeting over the weekend. The Player Council members serve for two years, while Eltingh begins a three-year term. The new Player Council comprises: Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake, Olivier Rochus, Thomas Johansson, Paul Goldstein, Davide Sanguinetti, Bob Bryan, Kevin Ullyett, Younes El Aynaoui, Martin Garcia, David Adams (alumni rep.), and Ricardo Piatti (coach rep.)...It is the 25th anniversary of John McEnroe ending Bjorn Borg's 41-match winning streak on grass...Telling stat: Rafael Nadal leads all players in return games won in 2006, while Roger Federer is No. 9 in the ATP MatchFacts category...Inflated ranking alert: No. 5 Andy Roddick is No. 15 in the 2006-only point standings...From BusinessWeekonline: "[ATP CEO Etienne] De Villiers inherited an organization molded by the 15-year reign of former CEO Mark Miles, a hands-off leader. Miles, who retired in December, oversaw a disastrous $1.2 billion TV and marketing rights deal in 1999 with Swiss company ISL Marketing. ISL imploded two years later, forcing the ATP to scramble for new sponsor dollars and siphon off prize money to fund the players' pension plan. The tour has stabilized since, but prize money and TV ratings have remained static and are small compared with golf, the sport against which tennis is most often measured. While the Grand Slams continue to boost prize money, the ATP's total purse has dipped to 2003 levels. The estimated figure for the tour's 64 events in 2006 is $55.8 million, virtually the same as three years ago and 5.3% below 2000 levels. TV ratings are lackluster: For instance, last year's final at Wimbledon between [Roger] Federer and American Andy Roddick rated a 2.5 on NBC, the lowest in five years...A raconteur who likes to quote people ranging from Malcolm X to Tolstoy to Woody Allen, de Villiers is also a hard-nosed businessman unafraid to shake up the status quo. 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We've been rehearsing some new material including Eminem, 8 Mile, Young C and Bust A Move. Glenn Weiner has been here the past couple of hours -- he has a great voice. We're staying pretty close to Andy -- we're in the same little subdivision. We had a poker game the other night at Andy's house with the American guys including Mardy, James, Todd Martin and Scott Humphries. I took Andy out in the first five minutes of the game but John Roddick ended up winning the game."...Wimbledon has gone on longer than two weeks a total of 16 times due to rain in the tournament's history...From the Houston Chronicle's Dale Robertson: "Andre Agassi won't be remembered as tennis' best player ever. His accomplishments pale in comparison with those of his wife, Steffi Graf, and he decided not to hang around quite long enough to break Jimmy Connors' 23-season Open Era record for durability." -- Or he might have if his back injury didn't decide it for him...From Britain's North Tonight: "Wimbledon, which starts today, may be one of the most popular sporting events of the summer but according to a new poll, Scots parents do not encourage their children to take up tennis because they consider it to be a sport for posh people. The survey results come despite efforts by the Lawn Tennis Association to make the sport more accessible to all, as part of their bid to improve the nation's performance on the court internationally. According to the poll football remains the most popular sport in Scotland followed by swimming and dancing."...From tennis writer Charlie Bricker: "[Jimmy] Connors is not, as one of the London papers suggested, coming in to be Andy's [Roddick] "coach." Roddick wants Connors to come in and train with him for a few days so that he can feed off Connors' intensity and sense of how to handle certain court situations. Connors has a lot of wisdom to impart and Roddick wants to hear it. And it could make similar requests to other former pros as well. Jimmy would be more of a consultant than a coach. His role would be akin to what large corporations do in bringing in outsiders with expertise to impart to their top managers." -- Is Jimmy going to whip out a PowerPoint and laser pointer? Sounds exciting: 'John, tell you brother to, um, hit the ball, uh -- in -- more.'...Venus Williams on skipping Fed Cup for the U.S. at Belgium: "I really wish it was in the States, definitely. I don't think I'll be playing, no. I can't play that much tennis and stay healthy. It's a proven fact. So I don't think I'll be playing, no." -- Nice commitment to country, why are you wishing it was played in the U.S. if you were going to skip it anyway? 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I'm disappointed for the great legends of the game, such as Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who have never stopped fighting for equality. And disappointed that the home of tennis is sending a message to women across the world that we are inferior."...Keeping the prize money inequity and cracking down on short skirts? Can Wimbledon make more bad decisions this year? if you're going to go all Fashion Police, start with pirate pants and reverse-bra-looking shirts.