TENNIS: Wimbledon ChampionshipsPerennial British hope Tim Henman left Centre Court last night with his match locked at 5-5 in the fifth set and 2-2 in sets against Spain's Carlos Moya. Henman won the first set 6-3 before dismally falling in the second 6-1 to the 1998 French Open champion.
Moya, seeded 25, won the third 7-5 for 2-1 as the match swung to him before Henman again responded with 6-2 in the fourth, throwing the match into a light-threatened fifth set.
But there Henman again showed signs of his inability to close matches out; though forcing his way to four match points, the 32-year-old Briton could not nail down the 30-year-old Spaniard before the match was finally abandoned for bad light.
There was no such drama for the defending champion, Roger Federer, he who eyes Bjorn Borg's record of five Wimbledon titles in succession, as he won his opening match in three silky sets against the Russian making his Wimbledon debut Teimuraz Gabashvili.
That's Federer, not just avoiding the banana skin but dismissively flicking it out of harm's way.
And let's not forget Andy Roddick, who was as impressive in his own less-than-silky way. Roddick is the four-wheel-drive to Federer's Ferrari, but sometimes when you're stuck in a match and you just need something to haul you out, it's Roddick's serve you would come looking for.
The right-arm delivery fired at 74 per cent on first serve yesterday against his friend and compatriot Justin Gimelstob.
It's no way to treat a companion, although Rafael Nadal, who plays today, treated his compadre and hitting partner Carlos Moya to a straight sets defeat in Roland Garros, gutting him with a 6-0 third. Nadal then basically explained afterwards in charming broken English that he was no charitable trust.
But Roddick's straightforward but highly calorific 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 win was not without its lighter moments. Gimelstob, who is known to have a diving habit, had a bet with the number-three seed and his brother John before the match on how many plunges to the grass the 73rd-ranked player in the world could squeeze into the session.
"It was real close," said Roddick. "My brother set it at eight. A couple of them he (Gimelstob) didn't have to dive. He actually said at one point it was for John. Then he said he would be the first person in history to dive in the warm-up.
"I messed that one up because I was supposed to hit a ball to him that he could dive to. He does not own that dubious distinction because of me."
Nor does he own the distinction of rattling the most likely American to rattle Federer. Roddick came into Wimbledon as winner of the Queen's tournament, his fourth, and after a 6-1 first set seemed happy enough to pummel his old mate into early submission. But Gimelstob gamely forced him to toil harder in order to close the deal, despite the high-octane serving.
"He's got such a consistency, a repeatable thing," said Gimelstob. "The (serving) technique is flawless so if anyone can do it (high percentage), he can do it."
Twice runner-up here, and twice to Federer, Roddick has never lost in the first round in seven appearances. But neither has he ever won on day 14.
Federer stylishly won his opener 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and pressed home his other-worldliness in a different way. In the four successful years he has played at Wimbledon, he has lost only five sets. That translates to five sets in 28 matches at Grand Slam level. In that same dominating four-year stretch over 25 years ago, Borg lost 15 sets.
So what does it all mean? Simply that Federer continues to measure up to the legend on a number of fronts, although he came into the tournament more anxious than normal because of missing the traditional warm-up event in Halle, Germany.
"Look, I was of course a bit worried, maybe before the first round," he said after despatching Gabashvili.
"Look, I've got so much confidence, so much experience on this surface, that I always expect myself to play good matches on grass. That's what happened today."
John McEnroe expressed his surprise that Federer had made the decision to give Halle a miss, given the priceless run it has generated for him in London since 2002.
"For me, my body was hurting after the French, after the clay-court season. What do you want me to say? I'm not going to start risking injury, risking my body," argued the champion.
"I'd rather play Wimbledon than maybe play Halle, lose there and not play Wimbledon at 100 per cent. I had to make a tough call and I'm not superstitious like other players are. If you play a tournament, you have to play it 100 per cent; otherwise you lose," he added.
"That's why I can make decisions like that."
