NOTEBOOK | Wimbledon

Henman gives Brits hope: By the sights and sounds alone, one would have thought Tim Henman ended Britain’s 71-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s champion. His victory over former No. 1 Carlos Moya was indeed theatrical, what with a 13-11 fifth set, six wasted match points, an overnight suspension because of darkness and wild cheering and standing ovations from Henman’s countrymen at Centre Court. It also, however, was a first-round match — against a guy playing on grass for the first time since 2004. Still, Henman and his fans will take what they can get, and there was certainly a celebratory mood after he pulled out the 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11 victory to reach the second round. Great shots from Henman were greeted by roars from the stands. Between points, there were dozens of cries of “Come on, Tim!” or “You can do it, Timothy!” The ending was a bit anticlimactic: Moya double-faulted on Henman’s seventh match point. Henman didn’t mind. “At that stage,” he said, “you’re very open to any gifts.”

Pistol Pete: Pete Sampras is in California, getting ready for next month’s Hall of Fame induction by working on his speech. He’s also keeping an eye on Wimbledon, where he won seven of his record 14 Grand Slam titles. Like most, he figures Roger Federer will win a fifth consecutive championship at the All England Club. “On grass, it makes him that much better,” Sampras said. “On grass, he does what [Rafael] Nadal does on clay.” Sampras, who won Wimbledon from 1993-95 and 1997-00, called Federer and Nadal “two legends in the making.”

No ugly duckling: Fabric frills fluttered about on Court 1 as Maria Sharapova wore her “Swan Lake”-inspired dress during her first-round victory at Wimbledon. “Even on a hanger, it doesn’t look as swan-ish as it does on me,” the 2004 champion said proudly after beating Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan 6-1, 7-5 Tuesday. The No. 2-seeded Sharapova found it tough to find an original way to deal with the All England Club’s all-white dress code. “There’s only so much you can do with white, and it’s always going to be traditional,” she said. “You just think of creative things and details you can add to a dress.”

Associated Press