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Celebration on hold Henman in control when semifinal suspended
Updated: Saturday July 07, 2001 3:27 AM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Tim Henman was on the verge Friday of becoming the first Briton in 63 years to reach the men's final at Wimbledon. Henman was leading three-time runner-up Goran Ivanisevic 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-0, 2-1 when rain stopped play in their semifinal on Centre Court. Officials called off play for the day after waiting two hours. Although the rain stopped, failing light at dusk forced the match to be suspended until Saturday. A victory would put Henman into Sunday's final against Pat Rafter, which would be the first time for an Englishman in the final since Henry "Bunny" Austin was the loser in 1938. The last British winner of the men's singles title was Fred Perry in 1936. Rafter defeated second-seeded Andre Agassi 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 in their third straight semifinal meeting at Wimbledon. Rafter lost in last year's Wimbledon final to seven-time champion Pete Sampras. Agassi won his only Wimbledon title in 1992. Henman's play was cheered by 14,000 partisan fans on Centre Court, and another 5,000 sitting on a hillside behind Court No. 1 watching the match on a giant-screen television. Nicknamed "Henman Hill" during the tournament, adults and children with picnic lunches reclined on blankets and cheered every Henman point wildly with local television stations basing some of their coverage from the crowded hillside. The 26-year-old Henman, who has won only seven minor tournaments on the ATP Tour, has never gone past the fourth round in any other Grand Slam event but is playing in his third semifinal at Wimbledon. Six-seeded Henman first lifted Britian's hopes when he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1996. Earlier this year he broke with his friend and coach of nine years David Felgate and is without a coach at Wimbledon. In an even first set, the unseeded Ivanisevic took the set 7-5 when he got the only break in the final game. The set looked like it would go to a tiebreaker, but Ivanisevic suddenly came up with a series of great service returns. Up 40-15 with Henman serving, Ivanisevic took the set with a backhand return winner down the line to end things after 41 minutes. Henman came back to win the second set 7-6 (6) in 48 minutes. Neither player was able to break in the set. Henman failed to convert three break points in the ninth game. He was broken twice in the tiebreaker and trailed until he went up 6-5 on a winning backhand volley. Three points later he won the set on an 8-6 tiebreaker with an overhead volley. Feeling he should have won the second set, the 29-year-old Ivanisevic -- as he has often done -- self destructed in the third set losing 6-0 in just 16 minutes. On one attempted overhead, he smashed the ball halfway up into the sellout crowd of 14,000 at Centre Court. Ivanisevic simply looked skyward on the wild shot and smiled. Henman lost only four points in the set. Henman seemed ready to put the match away in the fourth set when rain stopped play. In a largely dry two weeks at Wimbledon, rain stopped play in the fourth set with Henman leading 2-1 and Ivanisevic serving and leading 40-30.
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