Wimbledon 2005 News
By Alix Ramsay | June 20, 2005

It could only be Wimbledon. After days of blisteringly hot weather, days when the temperature stuck in the high 80s and low 90s (and for we Brits, that's a major heat wave), the 119th Championships began with a thunder and rain leaden skies. It was, so the London Weather Centre told us, a "rogue thunderstorm" that had appeared from nowhere and would not stay long. Fabulous. Welcome to Wimbledon, everybody.

But the gloom was not to last. As the sun returned, The Championships eased into life and all was well in SW19. In fact, all was extremely well. In fact, it was too damned quiet out there. The silence was only broken by the gentle thud of Patty Schnyder falling from grace and her position as No 10 seed as she lost to Antonella Serra Zanetti.

Out on Court 13, though, the air was rent with the whizz and bang of aces as Taylor Dent outblasted Dick Norman 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-1. It was neither a match for the purist nor the faint hearted but, over the course of 3hrs and 22 mins, Dent wore the huge Norman - he stands 6'8" tall - down. It was not a bad effort for a man playing only his third match in three months.

A serious ankle injury had stopped Dent in his tracks in March and, as doctor after doctor failed to identify the exact cause of the problem, Dent could do nothing. For two months he did no training or practice until, at last, one specialist realized that it was a ligament injury.

Back at work now, Dent is unfit but desperate to prove his worth. With both men belting their serves and heading for the net, it was brutal stuff to watch. But, just when Dent thought he had gotten a grip on the match, he ran out of puff.

"I'm struggling in the third set," he admitted. "My fitness right now is not where it was when I left, that's for sure. But, hopefully, I can overcome that with some mental toughness out there. I mean, that's the only thing I have going for me right now."

And when it came to mental toughness, Dent proved the harder man. Having coped with the disappointment of missed match points in the fourth set, he stood and watched in disbelief as Norman fell apart at the start of the fifth set. Suddenly the Belgian could not hit a first serve to save his life and offered up the early lead on a plate.

"I got a gift in the fifth set," Dent said. "For whatever the reason, he came out there and just was playing loose tennis all of a sudden. And I can't explain it. I don't know what happened. But, you know, thankful it happened that way."

But every time Dent seems to be on his way to a breakthrough or even another comeback, something goes wrong, he picks up another injury and he is back to square one.

"It feels like sometimes in my career, you know, I get like a head of steam going," he said. "I really start to play well and things are clicking for me, and then I have an injury - I have a back problem, a knee problem, you know, this time an ankle problem. And, unfortunately, they've been out of my control. Hopefully, you know, it will end sooner or later."

Even if it does not end, hopefully it will not return before his Wednesday appointment with Kevin Kim, the 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 winner over the hopeless and helpless Alex Bogdanovic of Britain.

Two people who promised that they would not be back were back on the opening day. Lindsay Davenport talked longingly of retirement and babies when she lost here in the semi finals to Maria Sharapova last year - and a handful of months later she was back as the world No.1 and had racked up seven titles for the year. She opened her account this year with a simple 6-0, 6-2 win over Alina Jidkova.

Marat Safin, too, promised that he would not come back to the nasty, slippery, slick courts of Wimbledon. Grass was not for him, he announced having lost in the first round, and he would waste no more time upon it.

Thankfully, Safin has a wise old soul guiding him these days and Peter Lundgren, his coach, knows full well that Safin has the ability to win any slam on any surface - grass being one of them. Persuading his charge to be a little more aggressive and to practice his volleys, Lundgren got Safin to the final of Halle a week ago. Only Roger Federer - Lundgren's former pupil - could beat the resurgent Russian then.

Facing Paradorn Srichaphan in his opening match, Safin looked strong, swift and focused as he won 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. It was, he thought, the best he had played since he won the Australian Open six months ago. Suddenly the confidence had returned and now he was happy to play anyone on anything.

"I wish I could have these matches every day," he said. "I wish I could play this level tennis every day. But it doesn't happen like that. "I felt really comfortable, really comfortable today. Two weeks ago, I made the final in Halle and that helped me. I try to focus on every single point.

"The first match is always tough, especially on grass. You need to find your movement on the grass. It's important to come to Wimbledon with some good results behind you. If I had not had good results in Halle, I would not have played."

He now faces Mark Philippoussis, a man on yet another comeback mission, after the Australian beat Karol Beck 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. So far Safin is feeling good and confident but, then again, so is his scheduled semi final opponent, Roger Federer. The Swiss and the champion of the past two years eased into the second round, thrashing Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

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