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Krajicek heads home No. 11 seed upset by Ferreira at Wimbledon
Posted: Wednesday June 28, 2000 02:50 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Wayne Ferreira stormed back from losing the first set and his self-control after a controversial overrule to knock former champion Richard Krajicek out of the second round at Wimbledon 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 on Wednesday. Ferreira was serving at set point down when umpire Kim Craven overruled a serve that looked to have clipped the line. Furious at Craven's decision, Ferreira lost the point and then smashed his racquet in two against his chair while swearing at the umpire. The incident earned Ferreira a code violation for racquet abuse and television viewers were left in no doubt at his anger as they heard his tirade loud and clear. "Why do you guys have to wait until +++++++ set point?" asked Ferreira. "Why don't you shut up and call the score. I have to pay for your mistakes." Krajicek was unable to capitalize on the situation as he struggled with his serve -- his most potent weapon -- and hit 11 double faults in the two hour 26 minute match. The incident certainly spurred Ferreira to dig deep and come up with spectacular backhand and volley winners which wore down the 1996 champion more and more. "I get very frustrated. I always seem to feel that the umpire does nothing until it gets extremely close," Ferreira explained. "It always seems to happen at the wrong times, always when breakpoint or set point or late in the match or a tiebreaker. "If they're going to overrule, they should do it in the whole match." But the South African admitted that he had not intended to break his racquet. "I was surprised by the weakness of my racquet. I didn't hit it that hard and the next minute it's in two pieces. That kind of scared me a little bit," added Ferreira. The second turning point for the South African came in the fifth game of the second set when Krajicek gave him a break with his seventh double fault. "I was always struggling with my rhythm on the first and second serve. After the overrule, I thought it would be good for me, and he would also be a little upset. But I couldn't take advantage of it today," Krajicek said. "To do so [overrule] on such a crucial point can be a little bit annoying," he said wryly. "He was upset -- sacrificed the raquet." "If you have no feeling then I don't think you can be a good umpire. I think you have to feel the moment of the match. "But sometimes it is amazing what kind of timing they can have for overruling." Krajicek, the 1996 champion, had been given a seeded position despite being ranked 27 in the world. The move prompted the last-minute withdrawal of higher-ranked Spaniards Alex Corretja and Albert Costa in protest.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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