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 'Henmania' Sampras to battle Henman, his British supporters on Centre Court
Posted: Thursday July 02, 1998 10:05 AM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Pete Sampras usually feels at home playing on Centre Court at Wimbledon. It won't be that way in Friday's semifinals. Centre Court will reverberate with "Henmania" as Britain, still mourning over England's loss to Argentina in the World Cup, pulls for Tim Henman to go where no homegrown male player has ventured in 60 years. "It's safe to say it's my favorite court," Henman said. "When you've got 15,000 people cheering you on and willing you on, it gives you a buzz." Sampras knows he won't have many supporters. "Playing Tim here in England, it will be tough," he said. But Sampras said he has faced similar situations, namely playing Boris Becker in Germany, and knows how to cope. "Hopefully, you can put the crowd out of the match," he said. "You've still got to play. It's still one on one. Tim is going to have some emotional support behind him, but you have to play, and I feel like I'm playing well." Henman is playing more than just the No. 1 player in the world, the man who has won Wimbledon four of the last five years and who hasn't dropped a set so far this tournament. Henman is also playing the burden of history. By beating Petr Korda in Wednesday's quarterfinals, he became the first British man to make the semifinals since Roger Taylor in 1973. Now he's aiming to become the first Brit to reach the final since Henry Austin in 1938 and the first to win the title since Fred Perry in 1936. "I wasn't born when Taylor got to the semis," the 23-year-old Henman said. "I don't want to stop at the semis now." The other men's semifinal will feature two of the game's biggest servers -- Richard Krajicek and Goran Ivanisevic. Despite a swollen knee, Krajicek is playing as well as when he won the Wimbledon title in 1996. A bigger surprise is Ivanisevic, a former two-time finalist who won only one match in his previous five Grand Slam tournaments and was written off by many people. "It's my 11th Wimbledon," he said. "I'm having fun. I don't know how it's going to finish, but maybe this year is the year for me." Ivanisevic will be favored Friday because he has beaten Krajicek eight consecutive times dating back to 1992. The men have a day off today, which was set aside for the women's semifinals. Scheduled first was Nathalie Tauziat, the lowest seed at No. 16, against unseeded Natasha Zvereva. Next up was what many considered the real final -- defending champion Martina Hingis vs. her doubles partner, Jana Novotna, in a replay of last year's championship match. Henman has enjoyed relatively restrained media coverage this tournament because of the focus on the World Cup. But with England out of the Cup following Tuesday's penalty shootout defeat to Argentina, the hopes of a nation are now turned on Henman. "What I'm doing is far more important to me than the World Cup," he said. "They [England soccer players] are out there representing their country, but when I'm on the court, I'm playing solely for myself." Henman said he never played better than in his win over Korda and has no reason to believe he can't beat Sampras. "The way I'm playing, I definitely feel I've got a good chance," he said. Don't count on it, says Mark Philippoussis, who was swept away by Sampras in straight sets in the quarterfinals and hasn't seen anybody who can stop the defending champion. "I think he's too solid," Philippoussis said. "He's dedicated out there and he wants to prove a point. When somebody serves like that, they want to say something. So I think he's ready. I don't think anybody will beat him." Hingis, 17, was the only one of the women teen-age stars to reach the semifinals. By contrast, Tauziat is 30, Novotna 29 and Zvereva 27. Anna Kournikova, 17, missed Wimbledon with a thumb injury, 16-year-old Serena Williams went out in the third round and her 18-year-old sister, Venus, lost to Novotna in the quarters. The Williams sisters certainly made a lot of noise with their brash talk and rattling beads, but failed to live up to their title-winning expectations. "I really did think I was going to win," Venus said. "I think next year I'm going to get much better. This time last year, I improved a lot, and from this point last year to now, I've improved much more. So next year, I don't think there's anything that should be stopping me, except for me." Jack Waite of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Kimberly Po of Incline Village, Nevada, won a second-round mixed doubles match over Jamie Delgado and Elizabeth Jelfs of Britain, 6-1, 6-2. In over 35 men's doubles round robbin play, Colin Dowdeswell and Buster Mottram of Britain defeated Leif Shiras of Milwaukee and Tomas Smid of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
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