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| 02 Jul 2002 | |
| World No. 1's fall under heavy skies |
By Eleanor Preston
As the damp, grey weather continued at SW19, the black clouds gathered over the seeds in the Wimbledon junior competition. The current junior World No.1s saw their Wimbledon hopes washed away as Australian Open champion Barbora Strycova and Argentinean star Brian Dabul both fell to unseeded opposition. Strycova was beaten 6-3 6-4 by 17-year-old Russian Euguenia Linetskaya while Dabul lost 5-7 6-4 6-2 to rising Spanish star Rafael Nadal-Parera.
The 16-year-old, who comes from the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca, is a nephew of Spanish soccer legend Miguel-Angel Nadal and trains with former French Open men’s champion Carlos Moya, who is also a Mallorca native.
Nadal-Parera opted to stay and train with Moya in Mallorca rather than go to the Spanish national training centre in Barcelona and so far his decision seems to be paying off. He received a wildcard into the main draw of the ATP event in Mallorca earlier this year and notched up the biggest win of his career against ATP pro, Ramon Delgado in the first round before losing to Olivier Rochus.
Nadal-Parera says he isn’t the traditional Spanish baseliner and he enjoys hardcourts more than clay, but his result against Dabul shows that he is equally at home with grass beneath his feet. "Wimbledon is the best tournament for me," he said. "Spaniards don’t have a great record here but when I first came here I was so impressed with everything."
Britain’s David Brewer also dodged the showers to complete his rain-delayed match against Christopher Westerhof. Brewer, who admits that grass isn’t his favourite surface, beat the South African 3-6 7-6 6-2. The match was suspended on Monday night with Brewer a set down, and two further delays made it a mental battle for both boys. "I think the rain and the delays worked in my favour," said Brewer, "because every time we had to go off he was getting more and more frustrated. The second time we didn’t even hit a ball before we had to come off, in the locker room he was fuming, while I just stayed calm and patient. It definitely affected him in the third set and I made him play." Brewer says he enjoys playing in front of his home crowd and he had plenty of support, not least from his Granny, who came to watch her grandson in action. "I don’t think she minded the rain at all," he smiled. "I think she had a great time and it was nice to see her enjoying herself."
While Strycova’s loss was the big story in the girls’ draw, other results saw other contenders for the Wimbledon title progress. Maria Sharapova and Tatiana Golovin both notched up easy wins but Eva Birnerova, seeded fourth, had to fight all the way against qualifier Emma Laine, eventually winning through 7-5 1-6 9-7 saving a match point along the way.
"In the first set I was a little bit nervous but then I told myself to calm down and play," said Birnerova. "I just kept telling myself to fight and not to give up. I knew I had to win each point and do my best." Birnerova says she loves playing at Wimbledon and said she has a new secret weapon to help her win the title. "Strawberries," she grinned. "I love them and I eat them every day when I’m here."
Photographs by Susan Mullane
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