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Rain ruins opening day at Wimbledon

Tennis fans seek shelter from the rain under their umbrellas at the Wimbledon tennis championships in Wimbledon, south London, on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

Roger Federer's bid for a fourth successive Wimbledon title got off to a whirlwind start on Monday only to be stalled by the fickle London weather.

Only 35 minutes of play was possible on Centre Court while none of the 64 scheduled first round matches were completed.

Federer, the world No. 1, looked as if he had never been away as he claimed a service break in the second game with Frenchman Richard Gasquet and went on to claim the first set 6-3 in just 26 minutes.

But with Federer about to serve at 1-2 in the second, rain forced the players back to the locker room at 12:45pm and at 6:20pm play was called off for the day.

Victory in the final here on July 9, the same day as the World Cup final, would see Federer become the third man, after Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras, to win four consecutive titles at the All England club.

"I feel very good coming back to Wimbledon," Federer said on the eve of the tournament.

"I remember the year before last I was very nervous because of being the defending champion and everything. This year around I'm much more relaxed. I've had a great start to the season. I haven't had a match where I've played poorly all year long," he said.

Federer's compatriot Martina Hingis started her first match here in five years in impressive form, opening up a 6-2 lead over Ukraine's Olga Savchuk.

The 1997 champion, and former world No. 1, retired from tennis in 2002 because of an ankle injury.

But after three years out of action, she has defied the odds by making a successful comeback. A quarter-finalist in both the Australian and French Opens this year, Hingis won her first title for four years in Rome in May.

Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters also enjoyed some early action on Monday going into a 5-4 lead over Russia's Vera Zvonereva.

The All England Club announced that Monday's attendance was 32,272, a decrease on last year's figure of 5,956.

To recover from the effect to the schedule caused by Monday's rain, 96 first-round matches were programmed for yesterday.

Federer, who needs one more win to break Bjorn Borg's record of 41 consecutive grass court victories, began the tournament as an overwhelming favorite.

There is nevertheless a feeling among many in the sport that he may be more vulnerable this year after a gruelling, but ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the French Open earlier this month.

Federer was narrowly beaten by Rafael Nadal in the final at Roland Garros and -- although he was still good enough to win the tournament -- appeared jaded as he made his first outing of the year on grass at Halle, Germany.

Gasquet came into Wimbledon having defended his Nottingham grass court title at the weekend and buoyed by the knowledge that he is just one of four players to have beaten Federer since the beginning of last year.

French Open women's champion Justine Henin-Hardenne saw her opening match against Yuan Meng of China fall victim to the weather, as did Britain's Tim Henman, who was facing Sweden's Robin Soderling.

The winner of that match was to face either Federer or Gasquet in the next round. Venus Williams was to begin the defense of her women's singles title yesterday.
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