Philippoussis Trails At Wimbledon Hard-Serving No. 7 Seed Will Need Big Comeback Today To Advance
As the grim, gray light faded at the end of a miserable opening day at Wimbledon, so did the prospect that Mark Philippoussis might slug his way to his first Grand Slam championship.
All but beaten by Britain’s Greg Rusedski in a match that will resume today, the seventh-seeded Philippoussis had Monday night to stew over everything that had gone wrong, such as 11 double faults and a deficit of 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 3-1.
He came into Wimbledon high on his game after defeating Goran Ivanisevic in a grass court tuneup for his third title this year. At 20, the Australian with the fastest serve in tennis seemed primed to join some of his famous compatriots as champion, despite worries over his ailing father and former coach, Nick Philippoussis, who is fighting stomach cancer.
Aussie champs Rod Laver and John Newcombe were on hand to help inaugurate the new Court 1 stadium, but not even their support could save the young Philippoussis from himself on Centre Court.
Leading 6-2 in the second-set tiebreaker after dropping the first, Philippoussis made the unfortunate choice to hold up his swing and let a backhand by Rusedski float by into the corner. Philippoussis might simply have swung at that ball and put it into an open court to even the match at a set apiece.
Instead, Philippoussis proceeded to tighten up and double-fault twice in a row, and eventually dropped the set 8-6 as Rusedski ran off six consecutive points. At 8:53 p.m., when the light became so dim it would be foolish to continue, Philippoussis packed up and stomped off the court.
Though Philippoussis matched Rusedski for fastest serve Monday - 138 mph - he couldn’t do much on returns, and the Canadian-turned-Brit held a 21-11 advantage in aces. Rusedski, ranked 27th in the world, had three double faults.
British fans, for all their suffering with the gloomy, chilly weather, could at least delight in Rusedski’s play and the victory by 14th-seeded Tim Henman, who beat Canadian Daniel Nestor 7-6 (13-11), 6-1, 6-4 in the first match on Court 1.
“It did feel very much like Centre Court,” Henman said of the new 11,400-seat stadium. “I think you can notice that it is fractionally smaller, but there’s still a great atmosphere out there.”
In a match interrupted by rain several times, 1996 men’s champion Richard Krajicek took nearly 4 hours to beat Marcello Craca of Germany 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4.
No. 2 Ivanisevic won in straight sets against Dinu Pescariu, and Australian Open runner-up Carlos Moya beat American Steve Bryan in four sets.
Oh-for-Wimbledon in two previous visits, French Open champion Iva Majoli mused that perhaps the best way to prepare for grass was to munch it.
More effective, however, likely was a tip she picked up from grass-court expert Martina Navratilova moments before stepping on court.
On a soggy opening day when a series of showers kept interrupting play and left 46 matches unfinished or unplayed, Majoli overcame a hot start by Grand Slam newcomer Mariana Diaz Oliva to win her first Wimbledon match 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
In the only other women’s matches, No. 5 Lindsay Davenport and No. 12 Irina Spirlea also advanced. xxxx WIMBLEDON AT A GLANCE A brief look at what happened Monday on day one of the Wimbledon tennis championships: Attendance: 33,586. Last year’s first-day attendance was 32,545. Men’s first round winners: No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic, No. 4 Richard Krajicek, No. 10 Carlos Moya, No. 14 Tim Henman. Women’s first round winners: No. 4 Iva Majoli, No. 5 Lindsay Davenport, No. 12 Irina Spirlea. Stat of the Day: Goran Ivanisevic served 24 aces, including two love games with four aces in each.