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| 04 Jul 2003 | |
| Day Ten: The Final Line-ups Have been Decided |
It rained again at Wimbledon. It rained hard enough and
persistently enough that one would have been forgiven for thinking there
would be no play. It was frustrating because the players were just in the
last stages of their warm-ups when the grounds men had to rush on court to
get them covered. The wait was then on for that break in the wet
conditions. An hour passed. Then another and after 40 minutes into the
third hour the wish was answered.
This day should have been dedicated to the women for their semifinals but
the day before had also been a miserable one for the weather and two of the
incomplete men’s quarterfinals had to be finished and the other two had to
be started.
Mark Philippoussis and Alexander Popp had had their match suspended the
night before in the fifth set at 22 while Sebastien Grosjean was leading
the sentimental favourite Tim Henman by two sets to one.
It was a battle both physically and mentally but quite possibly the mental
aspect of tennis was at the forefront just a bit more here. To pick up
where one had left off the night before is never easy but Mark
Philippoussis and Sebastien Grosjean managed to get through.
Philippoussis had to finish off his service game, the fifth game, and he
had to win that. Once the Australian did that he began to pressure the
German’s serve. Often he had break points. In the set there were ten (19
for the match) but could not convert them. Then Popp held break points on
Philippoussis in the eleventh game and again in the 13th game - any slip up
would have been very costly, but the Scud defended well, holding serve to
always be one game ahead.
Then, in the 14th game Philippoussis seized the opportunity. This time he
had two match points and he broke serve to reach his first Wimbledon
semifinal, 46 46 63 63 86, five years after his first and only other Grand
Slam final, at the US Open.
For Philippoussis this achievement is big but it takes on a greater sense
of satisfaction after one considers what he had been through with his
injuries and the surgeries to his knee and the fact that he had spent two
months in a wheelchair after one operation.
"It feels good because God it’s been so long," said Philippoussis.
"After
those three surgeries and stuff, it’s been a long, long trip back, a long
road. Just hard work and the effort into it and the hours rehabilitating my
knee in the gym and on the court. It pays off, and it’s all worthwhile at
the end."
Henman had the crowd behind him as expected and for a few moments it seemed
like he would crawl out of the hole he was in. Henman stayed with Grosjean
but then in the crucial seventh game the flamboyant Frenchman, who has such
a range of returns, struck and broke Henman. He then went up 53 and Henman
had to serve to stay in the match. He saved match points but it just
prolonged the inevitable and Grosjean served out the victory 76(8) 36 63 64.
For Henman the chances of winning Wimbledon are becoming more distant and
he admitted that himself, but it won’t stop him coming back to keep trying.
There are too many good, young players, who are very hungry out there. The
challenge is becoming tougher every year.
"I think it’s inevitable that as the standards are getting better I have to
find ways to keep improving," said Henman.
"And that’s certainly not going
to deter me from coming back, because this is the one tournament that I
desperately want to win and I’ve got to see if I can do that."
Grosjean meanwhile has to look ahead to Philippoussis and face serves of
200+ km per hour every single game. The Frenchman says it will be difficult
but he is going to focus and jump on any chance that comes his way. That’s
what is going to crucial for Philippoussis, he has to stay very firm and
not go on any walkabouts. Grosjean is a crafty player and incredibly
dangerous.
The Frenchman says he is going to try and keep Philippoussis under pressure
by making him play extra balls. The Australian is not known for his
patience on the court and that could just frustrate him.
Andy Roddick reached his second Grand Slam semifinal of the year when he
defeated Jonas Bjorkman in one hour 32 minutes 64 62 64. The American felt
his "focus" (that’s the buzz word in tennis this Wimbledon) was pretty
good. He said he wanted to "bear down" on the Swede who is a very handy
grass court player having won titles in singles and doubles on the surface,
including being the defending Wimbledon champion with Todd Woodbridge.
"Got off to a quick start and then got broken right back. I knew the first
set was going to be pretty important and I’m happy the way I maintained
consistent focus throughout," said Roddick, who is definitely fresher for
this semifinal compared to the one he played in Australia last January.
"This year I came into Wimbledon trying to put more returns in the court,
trying to stay a little more even-keel on the court. Not so much like a
roller coaster ride.
"I’ve been thankful I’ve gotten through some tough matches. I was confident
coming in here. Luckily I didn’t miss a step from Queen’s to here."
Roger Federer, who has had a bit of a back problem, reached his first Grand
Slam semifinal when he defeated an injured Sjeng Schalken 63 64 64. The
Swiss player knew that Schalken was injured and said he had to "stay
focused" (there’s that word again) because it is not easy playing an
injured opponent.
"I definitely didn’t play super today because of all this talk around my
injury, his injury, and made us play maybe not a great match," said
Federer.
"In the end all this doesn’t matter. I’m just very, very happy to
be in the semifinals. It’s my first time. I’m happy I took this
opportunity. I’m sorry for him he couldn’t do better today, but for me it’s
a great day. I’ve been waiting long for this moment."
The women’s final will be an all-Williams affair for the second consecutive
year. Serena defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 63 62 and then Venus came back
from a set and a service break down to beat Kim Clijsters 46 63 61. The
defeat of Clijsters helped Serena retain the world number one ranking a bit
longer. If the Belgian had reached the final to play Serena, the number one
ranking would also have been on the line.
Serena was hitting the ball with incredible venom and she was pretty darn
pleased with the win. So much has been made of the match she played against
Henin-Hardenne in Paris, that it really seemed like she was in the mood ton
take no prisoners.
"I think it’s more the press want to start a rivalry between people," said
Serena who has been trying to play down what happened at Roland Garros.
"It
used to be us and Hingis. I think you guys just make a mountain out of a
molehill. In this case, there’s not even a molehill there.
"I’m just here to play tennis and I have to be in this environment for many
years. You have to be happy with yourself and be able to communicate with
other players that are your colleagues, so to say.
"I’m in the finals of Wimbledon, so that’s always exciting."
Not only did Venus come back from a strong deficit against Clijsters but
she also over came another stomach injury. She seemed to restrain the
abdominal muscle that had troubled her before the French Open. Venus called
for the trainer because she said she could not "calm down" with the pain
and "panicked". But a rain interruption allowed for things to change after
she had spoken to her family.
Venus rallied in the second set and then closed out the match emphatically,
reaching her fourth consecutive final at Wimbledon.
"I think my level of confidence just depends on how well I’m playing and
how much I’ve been training before the tournament too," said Venus. "I was
never really concerned with who’s across the net. I’m only concerned if I
know that I’m messing up badly."
If you want to follow the action as it happens, with live scores and results, then please visit the Official Website at www.wimbledon.org.
The Junior Tournament is now underway. Please visit www.itfjuniors.com for daily wrap-ups and the latest pictures.
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