No Matches Completed on Rainy Wimbledon MondayPosted on June 27, 2006  Light rain and drizzle throughout the opening day of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships frustrated players and fans, with none of the scheduled first round matches completed by the time play was officially called off for the day. A brief dry spell allowed play to get under way on time at 1pm on Centre Court where defending champion Roger Federer secured the first set against talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet in just 26 minutes. Play also started at 1pm on the outside courts, with former champion Martina Hingis winning the first set 6-2 of her match against Ukranian Olga Savchuk on Court 2. Other leaders at the break included Belgium No.2 seed Kim Clijsters, who was 5-4 up against Vera Zvonareva, and crowd darling Daniela Hantuchova, who was winning 4-3 against Argentine Maria Elena Camerin. 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 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||