Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Serena Williams likes the role of defending champion.
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Marat Safin has an aversion to the grass courts at Wimbledon. In fact, he hates them so much he wants no part of the place.
"I give up on Wimbledon," Safin said after losing to fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the first round. "This is definitely not the tournament for me."
Safin's disdain contrasted sharply with the sentiments of Serena Williams, the two-time defending champion who beat China's Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-1 in her opening match Tuesday on Centre Court.
"The most special thing is coming back as a champ," Williams said. "Win, lose or draw, it's just a great feeling to be defending champion at Wimbledon. I don't get that feeling at any other Grand Slam. I just get it here at Wimbledon."
Hampered by rain
Part of the Wimbledon experience is rain -- and showers delayed the start of play today. With organizers already 45 matches behind schedule after two days of delays, heavier rain, strong wind and possibly hail were forecast.
"There is quite a good hope of some play and we're crossing our fingers and just hoping that at least we get all the unfinished matches of yesterday completed today," referee Alan Mills said.
Second-seeded Andy Roddick and No. 3 Guillermo Coria were among those hoping to resume matches that had been suspended Tuesday evening.
Roddick was up 4-2 against Taiwan's Wang Yeu-tzuoo on Centre Court. Coria, the French Open runner-up, has already played over two days. He was two points away from victory against Wesley Moodie when play was stopped at 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-7 (3), 5-3.
The courts were still covered at mid-afternoon Wednesday, with the prospect of any play uncertain.
"I expect this when I come here," said Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 champion who is retiring after this tournament. "We had great weather the last two weeks. I knew something bad has to come."
Ivanisevic, scheduled to play a second-round match against Filippo Volandri, said he would probably go for a run to pass the time.
"It's tough to know what to do," he said. "If you stay here, you go crazy. If you go home, you also go crazy."
Special guest
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, one of Safin's biggest fans, came to watch him Tuesday on Court 2. He left after Safin lost four straight games to drop the second set.
Things then got only got worse for Safin. He smashed his racket, swore at the umpire and put in little effort near the end of the 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (1) defeat.
"After awhile, I just get bored," he said. "I lost completely motivation, and I give up."
Also upset in the first round was sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva, the French Open finalist, who lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic. No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova was ousted by France's Virginie Razzano in three sets.