 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 02 Jul 2004 | | |
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| 02 Jul 2004 - Wimbledon - Eleanor Preston | |
| Monfils and Bondarenko beat the showers |
On a day when yet more rain, wind and frustration affected play at Wimbledon, Gael Monfils of France and Katerina Bondarenko of Ukraine dodged the foul weather long enough to score places in the boys’ and girls’ Wimbledon final.
Monfils remained on course for a historic ‘grand slam’ of junior titles with a 64 62 win over his compatriot Jeremy Chardy in the boys’ semi-finals, waiting out five interruptions for rain and showing why he has already won both the Australian Open and Roland Garros junior titles this year.
“It was very difficult with all the rain because you are on and you are off and it’s hard to know what’s happening,” said Monfils. “I didn’t try to rush and I kept my patience when I got on court. I have been through it before and so I knew what to do.”
Monfils occupied himself during one of the rain delays by chatting with men’s semifinalist Andy Roddick, who was also trying to kill time during the persistent showers.
“It was a real bonus to get to speak to Andy because I really admire him,” said Monfils. “There was a big group of us and he came over to chat. He is a really great guy and a great player, plus it was really good for my English!”
Monfils will take on either Briton Miles Kasiri or American Scoville Jenkins in Sunday’s final, and has the benefit of a day off on Saturday while Kasiri and Jenkins complete their rain delayed match. The pair was locked at 0-1 in the second set after Kasiri took the first on a tense tiebreaker. Should the British 18-year-old make it through he will become the first home player since Buster Mottram to make the Wimbledon boys’ final. Mottram lost to Bjorn Borg in 1972.
Whoever comes through that match will have their work cut out against Monfils, who has gone from strength to strength since his lightening start to the year in Melbourne in January. “I’m a better player than I was before Australia and I have a lot more confidence in myself,” he said. “I know what to do when things are difficult and I know what to do when I get nervous. I have had a lot of experiences which have helped me. That gives you an advantage even before you step onto the court. I never dreamed that I could maybe win all four grand slams in one year but if I can do it that’s cool.”
Like Monfils, Bondarenko also has the luxury of a rest day while she waits for her final opponent to emerge from a rain-halted semi-final. Ana Ivanovic of Serbia Montenegro and Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus were suspended at one set all and 2-2 in the final set of their semi-final.
Bondarenko came through a three-set tussle of her own to down top seeded Dutch girl Michaela Krajicek 76 16 64. The Ukrainian had four rain stoppages to cope with and blamed one of them for what she thought was a poor performance in the second set. “I don’t think I ever came back out for that second set,” she said with a smile. “I think I was still in the locker room.”
She pulled herself together for the third set though to make her first grand slam final. “Of course it’s very hard to concentrate in that situation when the weather is bad but the same thing happened to me yesterday so I knew how to deal with it,” she said. “This is a big breakthrough for me because I have been in the semi-finals of the US Open and Roland Garros so getting past that is really good.”
At least Bondarenko could keep her sense of humour, despite the horrible weather which has cursed the Championships this year. “My coach just keeps laughing and saying ‘welcome to Wimbledon. It’s raining again’.”
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