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Solid start Rafter defeats British wild card in opener
Posted: Tuesday June 27, 2000 11:23 AM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Pat Rafter expressed his relief at being seeded at Wimbledon after his 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 first round defeat of Jamie Delgado on Tuesday. The Australian, who benefitted from the non-seeding of three highly-ranked Spaniards, is 52nd in the ATP Champions Race but reached the semifinals of last year's championships. "I was not expecting to be seeded and was very happy to be seeded," said Rafter who missed the beginning of the season with a shoulder injury but is seeded 12th here. He agreed with top seed Pete Sampras that Alex Corretja and Albert Costa should have played at Wimbledon rather than withdraw in protest at the All England Club's seedings policy. "If the Spaniards weren't happy with the situation, they should have turned up regardless just to prove a point." The controversy has been the talking point of the tournament so far, especially after one of the beneficiaries of the seedings, Britain's Greg Rusedski, failed to get past the first round on Monday. Playing the lowly ranked Delgado, Rafter quickly broke the Briton's serve by attacking the net. In the sixth game, Rafter had six break points to secure the double break over Delgado but failed to convert any of them. Winning the game gave his opponent the confidence to engage in some attacking tennis of his own over the next hour. With the crowd firmly behind him, Delgado managed to stretch the second set into a tiebreak during which Rafter often found himself pinned back at the baseline. However, Delgado wilted as the dual U.S. Open champion started attacking the Briton's serve by coming into the net at every opportunity. Delgado handed Rafter the two-set lead by double-faulting on set point. With the second set safely in the bag, the Australian ran away with the third to secure victory in just over two hours. Despite the victory, Rafter realises he is no longer the force he was two years ago and expects fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Sampras in the final of Queen's, to do well at this year's championships. "Lleyton is a great player on every surface and I think he could be ready to do something here this year," Rafter said.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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