The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Fans, players enjoy People's Sunday at Wimbledon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Fans, players enjoy People's Sunday at Wimbledon

LONDON, JUNE 28. Ten thousand people formed a single line on Sunday morning outside the All England Club, where they ate, chatted, napped and waited for the chance to watch some tennis.

"You'll be able to tell your grandchildren you queued for 12 hours at Wimbledon," one steward said.

He added, "Just kidding."

For those arriving 30 minutes before the first match, the wait was actually two hours. The ticket was priced at £35, and the reward was an opportunity to attend only the third middle Sunday since the tournament began in 1877.

Fans were happy to enjoy a clear, mild morning after a rainy spell that prompted the extra day of tennis. The only umbrellas deployed were for protection from the sun.

The line began forming at 5 a.m. on Saturday, and more than 1,500 fans camped out overnight. By Sunday morning the line ran along Church Road and into a parking lot, where fans congregated and waited patiently.

"It's very well organised," said Enrica Olga, a fan who moved to London from Italy several years ago. "In Italy it would be absolutely mad."

The sedate crowd turned boisterous once inside Centre Court to cheer Englishman Tim Henman's victory. He joked that when he becomes chairman of the All England Club, he'll make the so-called People's Sunday an annual event.

"They are obviously passionate about the game," Henman said. "I think it's something that could be capitalised on — to give them the opportunity of coming to the most prestigious tournament in the world. And everybody knows it's not easy to get tickets."

Defending champion Serena Williams followed Henman on Centre Court and enjoyed the atmosphere too.

"It was just like a younger crowd," she said. "The people were really real, and they were really just out there screaming and enjoying the tennis."

Braces for aces

Nothing trumps an ace, which could be a problem for defending champion Roger Federer on Monday at Wimbledon.

Federer will play 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, who hit 39 aces on Sunday and beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6(12), 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-5.

"I've never faced somebody so tall," Federer said. "Everybody's talking about that big serve. I would like to face it and see how I can play with it."

Karlovic is into the fourth round at a major event for the first time. In his Grand Slam debut last year at Wimbledon, he upset defending champion Lleyton Hewitt.

Karlovic has lost his serve twice in his past 10 grass-court matches. Through three rounds at Wimbledon, he has 95 aces.

"It's going to be tough," Federer said. "It puts a lot of pressure on your own serve, but I think I can handle it. We'll see how big that serve is."

Joachim Johansson, a 6-foot-6 Swede (198-centimeter), hit 38 aces Sunday to beat compatriot Jonas Bjorkman and has a tournament-high 101 through three rounds.

Father knows best

Serena Williams says she has finally decided to follow dad's advice on how to serve, which could be bad news for opponents.

In her victory on Sunday over Magui Serna, Williams hit 11 aces with just one double-fault. She said her father and coach, Richard, deserved partial credit.

"For years my dad's been telling me, `Take the pace off. Don't hit them 120 mph if you can hit it 110,'" Williams said. "For the first time in 10 years I decided, `OK, hmmm.' It finally clicked. `OK, I'm only going to hit 110 and just place it,' and it worked every time. I took a lot of pace off and got it in."

Williams' first serves averaged 105 mph. She won 27 of 29 points on her first serve.

The last word

Karolina Sprem came up with a successful sequel to her upset of Venus Williams, beating Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6(5), 7-6(2) on Sunday in the third round.

Sprem's victory over Williams was marred by a mistake by the chair umpire, who gave Sprem an extra point in the tiebreaker that concluded the match. Both players drew criticism for their failure to question the incorrect score.

"I don't care. This is behind me," said Sprem, a Croat. — AP

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