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| June 23, 2003 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 22,1424 |
Wimbledon 2003 shapes up as battle of the ages
LONDON, June 22: The men’s singles at Wimbledon is shaping up as a battle of the ages with young guns Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick bidding to block Andre Agassi’s drive for a second All England crown.
Hewitt is the defending champion while Roddick has been installed as the bookmakers favourite after winning the traditional warm-up tournament at Queen’s.
But Agassi has just overtaken Hewitt at the top of the world rankings and, at the age of 33, is revelling in his new-found status as the oldest raquet-swinger in town.
The 22-year-old Hewitt romped to victory over Argentina’s David Nalbandian in the final 12 months ago and on Monday will see the All England Club’s centre court once more reverberating to the cries of “c’mon Rocky.”
A successful defence would put Hewitt in exalted company.
The last Australian to achieve back to back titles on the hallowed turf was John Newcombe in 1970 and 1971. Rod Laver did the double twice — in 1968 and 1969 as well as in 1961 and 1962.
Roy Emerson was champion in 1964 and 1965 and Lew Hoad won in 1956 and 1957.
Hewitt has a long way to go before he can match the performance of a less well-remembered star from Down Under, A.F. Wilding, who won the trophy four years in a row from 1910.
But there is no mistaking his appetite for another taste of glory at the world’s biggest tournament.
“The nerves will be flying the most on Monday,” Hewitt admitted last week. “You get a bit sick of talking about it and want to get on with the first match.”
Hewitt, who will open up against a qualifier, has seen his path to the second week eased by the withdrawal of 1996 champion Richard Krajicek.
The Dutch giant, who had been due to face Hewitt in the second round, announced his retirement last week after injury problems and three years without a trophy.
But Hewitt still has plenty of dangerous potential opponents in his quarter of the draw, including American Taylor Dent, Max Mirnyi of Belarus, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, and Roddick, whom he is scheduled to meet in the quarterfinals.
If he is daunted, Hewitt is not admitting it.
“I’m not afraid of being on centre-stage and playing big matches,” he said. “It is what I’ve lived for and dreamed of doing. To have won it means there’ll be special memories every time I come back.”
Agassi, like Hewitt, found the slow clay of the French Open a drag as both men failed fully to do themselves justice.
But the Las Vegan remains convinced he can complete another chapter of his stellar career at the venue where he broke his Grand Slam duck 11 years ago.
Then, his long hair and extrovert nature shocked the traditionalists but he returns to the fray as the game’s elder statesman.
Agassi opens up against British wildcard Jamie Delgado, ranked just 456 in the world and the American star is set to face Belgium’s Xavier Malisse in the quarters.
Assuming he makes it that far, Agassi then would have every chance of landing a ninth Grand Slam title.
“Wimbledon has it’s own magic ... it would be incredible to win it again,” says the man who let slip he hated grass the first time he showed up in 1987 and suffered a beating from Frenchman Henri Leconte, then known as something of a showman hiself.
Despite having tucked another Australian Open title under his arm in January, Agassi knows that time is running out if he wants to turn the wheel full circle and land a second Wimbledon crown.
It would be a spectacular way to bring down the curtain on a spectacular career.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams is confident she can bury the painful memory of her French Open final defeat with a successful defence of her Wimbledon crown.
The younger of the Williams sisters was left in tears after being booed and jeered by the crowd at Roland Garros on her way to a shock defeat at the hands of Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne.
But as she practiced here under the watchful gaze of father Richard, Serena said she was too busy working on her service action to dwell on events in Paris.
“My confidence is high now. I’m always a perfectionist — I want everything to be just right but I feel like I’m ready and I’m in good shape.”
Richard Williams was absent from Wimbledon last year following an acrimonious divorce from his former wife, Orecene.
But both parents are expected to be in London supporting their daughters as they attempt to make it through to what could be an all-Williams final.
Current form however suggests Venus will struggle to keep the date.
Her fourth round exit at the French Open was her worst performance in eight Grand Slam tournaments.
In the aftermath there has been much speculation that she is growing disenchanted with a tennis career increasingly being played out in the shadow of her younger sister, who has beaten her elder sibling five times in finals at the Grand Slams.
Henin-Hardenne suffered an injury scare at the weekend when she was forced to concede the final of a pre-Wimbledon tournament in the Netherlands to her compatriot Kim Clijsters.
Henin had won the first set on a tiebreak 7-6 (7-4) but trailed 3-0 in the second when she slipped and injured her left hand.
Henin, seeded third at Wimbledon, meets Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko in her first match.
Serena Williams will open up on Monday against her compatriot Jill Craybass, ranked 66 in the world.—AFP
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