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A not-so-wild week
Updated: Monday July 02, 2001 2:03 AM
LONDON -- That was the Wimbledon week that was. Martina Hingis banished in round one, Pete Sampras given a five-set scare by a plucky Brit ranked 259 places below him, Goran Ivanisevic acing the opposition with a dodgy shoulder and 18-year-old Rodders showing what Agassi, Sampras and Courier started he's about ready to continue. It was a first week of precious few moments of edge-of-the-seat drama, giving me doubts after all about the merits of the 32-seed system. Hingis (huge shock) and Jan-Michael Gambill (minor blip on the radar) apart, the surprises and giant-killing thrills seldom came. The higher seeds were largely free from the threat of dangerous floaters through the first two rounds.
Twenty-five of the 32 women's seeds progressed to round three. Only two of the top 16 fell by the wayside. On the men's side, only 19 of the 32 advanced. But just four of the top 16 seeds were sent packing, the highest being number 11 Thomas Johansson. That provides us with the possibility of a fascinating second week of no easy rides and many a potential classic. Maybe I'll change my tune on the 32-seed thing again after gorging on a feast of delicious duels. Story of the week? That's a tough one. Hingis losing to Virginia Ruano Pascual, the top seed's second first-round exit in three years, and Sampras clawing his way out of trouble against Barry "Who?" Cowan are right up there. So, too, 18-year-old American Andy Roddick's breakout into the tennis big-time, when many other teen-agers are breaking out only in zits. Lleyton Hewitt won his first match on Centre Court after a splendid contest with fellow 20-year-old Taylor Dent, showing all the emotion and raw guts you can handle. The Brits roared. Well, two of them at least. Tim Henman (surviving Henmania) and Greg Rusedski (hoping he might get some kind of mania attached to his name) both strode into round four and week two.
Russian teen-ager Lina Krasnoroutskaya made her Grand Slam splash, much to the chagrin of commentators and copy editors everywhere. But the best story of the week for me was Goran's sudden resurgence. He hadn't won three matches in succession all year until this Wimbledon. Yet here he is, the three-time finalist, ready to fight Rusedski for a quarterfinal place at the world's most prestigious Grand Slam. He needs shoulder surgery, saying he can't hit a serve without feeling some pain. But to have an operation now could mean the end of his career, so he's postponing the inevitable. If he'd made a woeful showing at Wimbledon, Goran hinted he might well have called it quits. Now he has renewed life. "My arm hasn't dropped off yet, so I keep playing," declared Goran. Punishing opponents with a lefty serve of unreturnable proportions (when it's working), he's also delivered many a comedic blow in the press room to keep us fascinated on more than one front. He told the gathered media throng that when he plays badly he can't beat a woman. Then came talk of the two Gorans -- one bad, one good. The Croatian revealed both Gorans were in London this past week and were getting along just fine. That's good, he said, because when one of the Gorans is elsewhere it doesn't bode well for tournament advancement. Having both Gorans here, turning back the clock and pinging forth aces and quotes galore, has been a delightful Wimbledon bonus. Week two can't come soon enough. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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