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Winning them over Voltchkov might not have had a chance, but he fought
Posted: Friday July 07, 2000 04:04 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Vladimir Voltchkov's moment in the Wimbledon limelight ended before the Centre Court crowd could settle on a nickname for the obscure Belarussian. "Go Vlady!" they shouted. And "Go Volty!" And then "Go Val!" With Pete Sampras on the other side of the net, the crowd wanted an upset, or at least a contest, and Voltchkov tried his best to oblige. He dove to the grass several times, including twice on one point, and kept getting back up, absorbing Sampras' best shots and gamely providing a foil for the six-time Wimbledon champion. The crowd loved it. When Voltchkov walked off the court after losing, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4, he received a Grand Slam-caliber ovation and showed his gratitude by placing his hand over his heart. "That was a pretty good run for me here," he said. "I'm actually pretty satisfied with the way the match went today." At No. 237, Voltchkov was the lowest-ranked player to make the Wimbledon men's semifinals. He was the first qualifier to do so since John McEnroe since 1977. The cherubic Voltchkov, 22, seemed as amused as everyone else by his unexpected success. He admitted to running out of tennis togs and played his quarterfinal match in borrowed shorts and donated shoes. A sportswear company offered him clothes for the semifinals but balked at a longer deal, Voltchkov said, so he used the same outfit Friday hat he wore in the quarterfinals. "I washed it, of course," he said with a smile. Along with the affection of Wimbledon fans, Voltchkov earned $180,000 and the respect of the game's best grass-court player. "He came out today, his first time on Centre Court, playing me very relaxed," Sampras said. "He's got a lot of talent. I'm sure he'll grow from this experience. His ranking will go up. And he can probably get a contract now for some clothes, which is a good sign for him." Voltchkov, showing impressive poise under the circumstances, played especially well in the first set until he trailed 5-4 in the tiebreaker. Sampras, off balance and in retreat, then hit a weak forehand floater and Voltchkov blew his shot, dumping an easy backhand volley into the net. The Belarussian dropped his racket and slumped to the ground in anguish. He lost the next point and the set, snuffing whatever slim hopes he might have harbored of pulling off the biggest upset in tennis history. He chalked up the blown volley to fate -- and jitters -- but said it won't haunt him. "No. I forgot about it," he said. "These things are decided somewhere else. In practice, you probably hit a hundred out of a hundred like that. You miss one there. I guess it's the nerves." Even with the outcome inevitable, Voltchkov didn't give up. On one point he sprawled to the turf hitting a forehand volley, leaped up to smack an overhead and then dove for another shot, which caught the net cord and deflected over his outstretched racket. The crowd roared in appreciation of the effort. "To beat Pete, you have to do something special," Voltchkov said. "The ball is there. If you can't get there by your feet, then you have to jump. It also looks good." For nearly a fortnight at Wimbledon, Voltchkov looked good. Give him credit. And next year, give him a nickname.
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