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 Wimbledon Notebook Sanguinetti a fast study on Wimbledon's grass courts
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 09:47 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- David Sanguinetti, who had never played a grass-court tournament before Wimbledon, is one victory from a spot in the semifinals. The 25-year-old Italian, who has played 10 of his 16 tournaments this year on clay, defeated Francisco Clavet of Spain Tuesday 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-4 and will next face Richard Krajicek, the 1996 champion. "I'm surprised because I didn't know how I would respond to grass," Sanguinetti said. "But as soon as I came here and started to practice I felt really good." Sanguinetti is moving up in the rankings, and his place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals will carry him higher than at any time in his career. Beginning the year at No. 92, a march to the final of the tournament in Coral Springs, Florida, in May helped boost him to a current high of No. 65. "I have flat shots, and the grass is like soap," said Sanguinetti, who attended UCLA for two years. "It's slippery and they have a lot of trouble putting their shots on the other side [of the net], especially my serve." Who's No. 1?Marcelo Rios, the surly Chilean who went out in the first round, could still claim the top spot in next week's ATP Tour rankings.Rios will move into No. 1 if neither Pete Sampras nor Petr Korda reaches the Wimbledon final. Sampras will hold onto No. 1 if he beats Mark Philippoussis and Petr Korda en route to the final. If he reaches the final without beating those two, he must win the final to stay No. 1. Don BudgeDon Budge, who won all four Grand Slams in 1938, was presented Tuesday with a Waterford glass vase to commemorate the occasion by the Duke of Kent.The inscription read: "Presented to Donald Budge in celebration of 60 years since winning his first Grand Slam title." Dennis Rodney, MBA?The NBA and Dennis Rodman may be known by every sports fan in the United States. But that's not the case in England. At least not at the All England Club.In Pete Sampras' interview Tuesday, he talked about the marketing success of the NBA and also made reference to Rodman. The stenographer transcribed Rodman as "Dennis Rodney" and the NBA as "MBA." Go EnglandBritain's Tim Henman, set to play Wednesday in a quarterfinal against Petr Korda, had Tuesday off to watch England's World Cup game against Argentina."I'll have the opportunity of watch the whole 90 minutes," he said. "But it wouldn't distract me from what I'm doing. Obviously, what I'm doing is a lot more important to me." Vaya ArgentinaThe Argentine mixed doubles team of Mercedes Paz and Pablo Albano arrived at their match Tuesday wearing their nation's blue and white soccer jerseys.It could have been a bad omen for England. The Argentines won their match over England's Julie Pullin and Danny Sapsford 6-1, 7-6 (7-2). Serve and volleyIf Venus and Serena Williams ever make the Wimbledon final together, they won't be the first sisters to do it. Maud and Lilian Watson played for the title in 1884, the first year women were allowed to compete. Serving underhand -- as all women did then -- Maud took the title. Martina Hingis on Tamarine Tanasugarn hitting so many winning shots down the line in Tuesday's fourth-round match won by Hingis: "She could go play in a casino today, or something." Jan Novotna on the cocky ways of Serena and Venus Williams: "I guess that's the way the young American kids are brought up nowadays." French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario on why she's started slowly in her matches at Wimbledon. "I am Spanish. I'm a slow starter. The later I play the better it is."
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