Wimbledon 2004Four days into the tournament and after lunchtime yesterday American Andy Roddick finally left the first round behind him. It has been a week of frustration and anxiety, a schedule washed out and rejigged.
Killing time in the locker-room is a talent some players lack. Roddick is one of those. Having turned up at 10 on Wednesday morning he was held on site until 7.30 p.m. without striking a ball. People approached him as they would a tethered wolf.
"I struggle. I mean I'm not good at sitting around with nothing to do," he said after beating Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in straight sets. "My boredom was killing me. I was nuts. I always have to have something to do. I was walking around the players' lounge, you know, wearing out my shoes."
French Open finalist Guillermo Coria spent his Wednesday watching "five or six" movies. When he came on court yesterday to face Wesley Moodie, he knocked up, played two points to win the match and departed. He'd spent Tuesday complaining to the umpire that the match should be stopped because of the drizzle and when he was 5-3 up in the fifth and wanted to finish, the umpire postponed play.
Yesterday was all about getting through, moving along, getting something under the belt before more rain arrives tomorrow.
Greg Rusedski did it against Italy's Davide Sanguinetti. It took four sets, the third lasting only 21 minutes, but Rusedski is taking the pragmatic approach to the rehabilitation of his career.
Ranked at 165 in the world, the British number three relied on a wild card to get him into this year's competition, having slumped after a series of injuries last year and a failed drugs test.
Over the past two years, he has been inactive for approximately 16 months. But he's not the first top-10 player to slide out of sight and then try to climb back.
"I don't really worry about 165," said Rusedski. "Inspiration for me is someone like Agassi. He was 144 in the world, the American number 28, whatever they like to call it. He just came back and said 'okay, fine. I've been through a rough patch. My tennis hasn't been there. I've decided I want to play.' So he found a way back and committed to the game. I've asked for wild cards into every tournament this summer."
While rain did stop play again yesterday afternoon, the big names continued to trickle through, several of them with the ease of Roddick, a few others such as Goran Ivanisevic and sixth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero needed five sets and some scary moments on the way.
Lleyton Hewitt, in his second match of the competition, faced Georgia's Irakli Labadze. Nicknamed "Freak Show" for his bad temper, Labadze failed to live up to his billing and departed meekly 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 to the 2002 champion.
The win earns Hewitt a crack at the 2001 champion, Ivanisevic, in the third round, not something the Australian will relish given Ivanisevic's massive support and lefty serve. Once again the towering Croat brought his emotions to court, won the tight match against Italy's Filippo Volandri, then chucked his racquet, shirt and towel to the crowd before leaving stripped and victorious like a heavyweight champion.
"I have nothing to lose (against Hewitt). He is the guy who is a Wimbledon champion, one of the best players in the world," said Ivanisevic. "If I win it's great for me. I'll go in much more relaxed and enjoy it. You have to win a point twice against him so I have to serve well and volley. I've played him twice on grass and each time I didn't win a set, so he is the favourite."
Roger Federer, who went on court long after Hewitt, was off it before him. The Swiss reigning champion was lucky enough to meet Alejandro Falla, whose ranking of 138 meant he had to sidestep the pitfalls of qualifying at Roehampton before falling to the top seed 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.
