Wimbledon Review (2001)
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It was, in so many ways, a memorable 115th Championships. In the matter of records, the attendance for the normal 13-day span of the tournament was 476,711, an increase of 30,000 on the previous year and almost 20,000 up on the previous best of 457,069 set in 1999.
What a pity, then, that the weather, dry and at times even uncomfortably hot, broke on the final weekend, throwing the later stages into disarray. No one will be sadder about the onset of rain on Friday evening than the British No. 1, Tim Henman, who was heading towards what seemed like a comfortable four-set win over Goran Ivanisevic in the Men's Semi-Finals. Two days later he exited sadly, beaten in five sets.
However, for the man who beat him, glory lay in wait. Ivanisevic, ranked 125 and only playing in the tournament because Wimbledon handed him a wild card, defeated Patrick Rafter, last year's beaten finalist, 6-3 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-7 to bring to a close 10 years of misery. It was in 1992 that Ivanisevic lost his first Wimbledon Final, to Andre Agassi. Two years later he was beaten again, by Pete Sampras. Then in 1998 he lost to Sampras once more.
It was one of the most dramatic finals ever on Centre Court. The tournament had been extended by a day to fit it in, ensuring a sell-out crowd of sporting fanatics who had queued, in some cases for 24 hours, to get a ticket. So an atmosphere reminiscent of a Davis Cup occasion was guaranteed, and the match lived up to its flamboyant setting.
Rafter was not the only big name to go away disappointed. Pete Sampras, aiming for his eighth men's title here, and a fifth in succession to equal Bjorn Borg's record, was beaten in the 4th Round by the exciting Swiss 19-year-old, Roger Federer, and may now never wear that eighth crown.
The women's singles provided a repeat winner for the United States in Venus Williams, thus ensuring that Americans continued to hold all four Grand Slam singles crowns. The European threat posed by the 19-year-old Belgian, Justine Henin, was dismissed, and dismissed with almost contemptuous ease in the end, by the defending Champion.
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