Wimbledon men's semi-finals: Another frustrating day at Wimbledon 2004, not the first of this championship. Play was not entirely washed out, but neither of the men's semi-final matches was completed yesterday as torrential downpours swept intermittently across London for most of the afternoon and evening.
The final shower of the day at least kept France's Sebastien Grosjean in the competition for a little longer as the top seed Roger Federer's power and touch earned him the first two sets and had him cruising 4-3 up in the third.
The 22-year-old Swiss looked certain to win a place in Sunday's final when the rain arrived at 7.15 p.m. and play was suspended for the second and final time.
American Andy Roddick went off Court One at the same time, also a set up, but with Croatia's Mario Ancic very much in the match. With Roddick serving 4-3 up in the second, he faced a break point when the rain arrived.
It is not the first time a Croat has had a Friday evening to think about his position in a Grand Slam semi-final that was rained off. In 2001, Goran Ivanisevic went to bed two sets to one down against Tim Henman 5-7, 7-6, 6-0, but came back to win the match. He then went one step further by beating Pat Rafter in one of the most memorable championship finals in years.
The organisers finally gave up and play was officially called off at 8 p.m. despite Federer being so close to the finish line.
The washout means the women's final and the remainder of the two men's matches will have to be played today, weather permitting.
Again, rain is expected and the tournament organisers can only hope for enough dry spells to complete the schedule. Yesterday's matches had been rescheduled in an effort to get them played to the finish and took place almost simultaneously, Federer's match on Centre Court and Roddick's on Number One Court. Normally, semi-finals are played back-to-back on Centre Court.
Today, the top seed's match against Grosjean will begin at noon, again on Centre Court, where the women's final will also take place.
America's Serena Williams and Russia's Maria Sharapova will not begin to play before 2 p.m. - Roddick's match against Ancic will also resume at noon, on Number One Court.
Federer had Grosjean out of his comfort zone for most of the time despite the fractured nature of the match.
He has lost his serve only once at Wimbledon since the 2003 quarter-finals and that was to Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the last round.
Grosjean, meanwhile, had come through the championship without dropping his serve and after an hour's play had dropped two sets to Federer's polished game.
Roddick broke to lead 5-4 and saved two break points, serving out for the first set 6-4. Federer leads Grosjean 6-2, 6-3, 4-3 and Roddick leads Ancic 6-4, 4-3.
