WIMBLEDON 2000

REVIEWS BY MARK NEWMAN

FIVE HOURS PLUS!?!

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Epic In Every Sense of the Word

The final day of the first week’s play at Wimbledon saw history being made as the longest one day match in the history of the Championships was played:

(10) Mark Philippoussis def. Sjeng Schalken 4-6 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-4) 20-18

When Tim Henman came out on court to play Hicham Arazi, Mark Philippoussis and Sjeng Schalken were just beginning the final set of their match.  When Henman finished his match with Arazi they were still going, and there was still quite a way to go yet. The first four sets of the match had seen some great tennis, with 10th-seed Philippoussis always seeming to be lagging behind. But by the time the fifth set was halfway through all that had gone before was forgotten. It was one of those epics that never seemed to stop, and nobody wanted it to. Adrenalin rush, nerves, tension – it was all there. Big serving Philippoussis was always going to be the more likely winner. With a reliant serve, one of the biggest and best in the game, he could always afford to take more chances on the returns of serve. But Schalken had all the answers for most of the final set. At 8-8 he had saved the only break point in the first 36 games of the final set and held his nerve and his serve well, but could find little answer to Philippoussis’s barrages. At 18-18 it all went wrong for Schalken as Philippoussis hit out. Wobbling slightly between points and leaning on his racket, the Australian seemed to be weakening, but when the points were played he bounded around the court with seemingly limitless energy and the balls were hit just as hard. Philippoussis wanted the match over and pounded Schalken’s serves every which way, breaking the poor guy to love. Serving it out, despite the scoreline, was just a formality. 20-18 the final set score, 38 games in one set, it was like playing an eight set match practically. Philippoussis will next play Tim Henman, and says that Tim had better be ready, because he won’t be tired by Monday!!! I was tired just watching all five sets of an excellent match!

Musical Accompaniment Does Not Please Capriati

Over on Centre Court it was a day of happiness for Wimbledon tennis stars past and present as former singles and doubles champions were honoured in a lavish ceremony. On the outside court though one of the present day tennis stars, Jennifer Capriati, was far from happy. She was trailing 2-5 in her third round match against veteran Yayuk Basuki, returning to the Tour after becoming a mother last year, and was distracted by a brass band playing at full volume on Centre Court. When an official came out and told her it would only last another ten minutes, she refused to play, complaining that by then she could be a set and a half down and it was unfair to make players play with such distractions. After a ten minutes sitout by Capriati, the brass band stopped. It must have been a distraction, because Capriati allowed Basuki just one more game, recovering for a 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 straight sets win. She will meet defending champion Lindsay Davenport in the last-16.

Other News

It was a day for big matches, though none in quite the same league as the Philippoussis/Schalken match! – Marc Rosset saw off Tommy Haas 9-7 in the final set; Thomas Johansson needed five sets to defeat Magnus Gustaffson; and Jan Siemerink and Miriam Oremans needed an 18-16 final set scoreline to see off the spirited challenge of Martina Navratilova and Mahesh Bhupathi… Defending men’s champion Pete Sampras shrugged off an ankle injury and a 2-6 first set loss to roll past Justin Gimelstob in four sets… Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and Patrick Rafter marched on… but Gustavo Kuerten, French Open champion, crashed out suffering from a terrible mix of leg and back injuries collected with a very bad cold. It was a disappointing result for the likeable Brazilian who had been so impressive in the opening two rounds… David Prinosil of Germany is barely mentioned anywhere, but he is having a great grass court season. A winner in Halle two weeks ago, he qualified successfully for Wimbledon last week and this week shot through to the fourth round… Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario posted victories to move into the last-16, only Sanchez Vicario struggled, saving a match point in the second set against Sandra Nacuk before recovering well in the final set… Jelena Dokic may not be beating the likes of Hingis and Pierce like she did last year, but she is into the fourth round again, where she will play Kristina Brandi. It won’t be easy though, because Brandi beat her 6-0 6-1 on the grass at ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week.