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Wimbledon: First Week Statistics
Posted: Sunday June 30, 2002 12:11 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Following are some statistics
from the opening week of the Wimbledon tennis championships:
Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi's second round losses on Wednesday meant that it was the first time since 1995 that two former men's champions lost at Wimbledon on the same day.
Pat Cash, winner in 1987, and 1991 champion Michael Stich both suffered first round defeats on the same day in 1995.
This is the worst ever performance by American men at Wimbledon since tennis turned professional in 1968.
Jeff Morrison's defeat Saturday meant that there were no U.S. men left in the last 16.
The previous worst showing, on three occasions, was when two Americans reached the fourth round. Jimmy Connors and Johan Kriek in 1987, Richey Reneberg and Pete Sampras in 1997 and Todd Martin and Sampras in 1998.
For the first time since 1987, only one former champion -- Richard Krajicek -- reached the third round of the men's championship. In 1987 Connors was the only former champion to
progress beyond the second round before eventually perishing in the semis.
Only two of the men's top 16 seeds -- top seed Lleyton Hewitt and fourth seed Tim Henman -- have reached the fourth round, the worst performance since seeding began in 1927.
In the women's draw, 10 of the top 16 have advanced to the fourth round.
Wimbledon saw a rain-free first week for the fourth successive year.
A record crowd for a single day of 42,457 fans turned up at Wimbledon on Wednesday. The previous record was 41,440, set on the first Thursday in 2001.
This is the first time in Wimbledon history that two Brazilians have played each other. Andre Sa beat Flavio Saretta in the third round Saturday.
While the Williams sisters are still on course for a final showdown, this year's Wimbledon has already witnessed it's first
dose of sibling rivalry.
Olivier Rochus -- Marat Safin's conqueror Wednesday -- upset the family pecking order to beat older brother Christophe in the first round.
Three players in the women's draw are offsprings of footballers.
Fifth seed Kim Clijsters's father Leo was Belgium's 1988 player of the year, British wildcard Elena Baltacha's father Sergei played for the Soviet Union, Dynamo Kiev, and Ipswich
Town while another British wildcard Rachel Viollet is the daughter of the late Manchester United player Dennis.
Strawberries are just 1.90 pounds (US$2.91) a tub at Wimbledon compared to at least three pounds at Royal Ascot.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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