The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : From Henmania to `Henmoania'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 02, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

From Henmania to `Henmoania'

LONDON, JULY 1. Tim Henman had the home-court advantage on Wednesday, with Centre Court fans even violating Wimbledon etiquette by cheering his opponent's double-faults.

There were not nearly enough of those, and `Henmania' turned to `Henmoania' when he lost to unseeded Mario Ancic 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2. The defeat ended Henman's latest bid to become the first Briton to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Henman said. "I've never hidden behind the fact that this is the tournament I'd love to win the most. And the reality is that I don't have an endless number of years for chances. I felt this was a good opportunity."

Henman, 29, considered the first half of the year the best of his career, including a semifinal berth at the French Open. But he has now lost four times in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and he's 0-4 in the semifinals.

Henman is not necessarily the end of British hopes for another Wimbledon champion. Bookmaker William Hill has set odds at 250 to 1 that Henman's one-year-old daughter, Rosie, will win the tournament.

Wimbledon upsets are nothing new for the 20-year-old Ancic. He is the last player to beat Roger Federer at the All England Club, winning their first-round match in 2002.

With his size and serve-and-volley game, the 6-foot-5 Ancic is reminiscent of another Croat, 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic, but lacks his mentor's high-strung demeanour.

Capriati undecided on coach

Former U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson, who began coaching Jennifer Capriati at Wimbledon, said he is unsure whether he will continue working with her.

"I have no idea," he said. "All we really talked about was Wimbledon."

Capriati lost in the quarterfinals on Wednesday to Serena Williams. She worked earlier this year with Heinz Gunthardt, but has been coached for most of her career by her father, Stefano, who was not at Wimbledon.

Capariati said she would decide what to do regarding a coach later.

Luck of the draw

Lleyton Hewitt lost to Roger Federer at the Australian Open and to Gaston Gaudio at the French Open, and both went on to win the tournament.

That bodes well for Federer, who beat Hewitt in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday.

"I feel like I prepared as well as I could for all three majors so far," Hewitt said. "I've been beaten by Roger in two of them and Gaudio in the other. The guys were just too good."

Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has not reached a major semifinal since 2002.

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