Henmania hits Wimbledon

A rejuvenated Tim Henman put his sluggish start to the Wimbledon championships well behind him on Thursday, surging into the third round wit...

A rejuvenated Tim Henman put his sluggish start to the Wimbledon championships well behind him on Thursday, surging into the third round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Frenchman Michael Llodra.

A packed Centre Court crowd and more than a thousand “Henman Hillbillies” glued to a giant screen in the grounds roared the 10th seed on as he once again stands as a lone British survivor at the grasscourt grand slam.

4 Indians juniors make it to the main draw

Top-Seed Marcos Bhagdatis’ last minute withdrawal, enabled India’s Karan Rastogi to move into the main raw of Wimbledon Junior Championships. With Karan getting in, all the four player of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Grand Slam Team have made it to the main draw. The other three players are Somdev Dev Varman, Sania Mirza & Sanaa Bhambri. Karan was ranked No 2 in the qualification section and would have had to go through a qualifying process. Another notable player who has been accepted into the main draw of Wimbledon Juniors based on her ranking of 158 in WTA, is 17 year old Sunitha Rao who is of Indian origin and is currently based in USA.

No Briton has won his home slam since Fred Perry in 1936 nor reached the final since Bunny Austin in 1938. Henman has reached the semi-finals on four occasions but always fallen just short. If he is to stand a chance of rewriting British tennis history this year, he is likely to have to overcome sixth seed David Nalbandian.

Story continues below this ad

Nalbandian is an Argentine baseliner who has played Wimbledon just once before. However, despite his fondness for lurking at the back of the court, last year he reached the final on his debut. The burly Argentine showed he is in fine form again in southwest London, pulverising Brazil’s Andre Sa 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Court One.

Meanwhile, a determined Serena Williams moved a step closer to retaining her Wimbledon title, subduing Belgian Els Callens 6-4, 6-4 in the second round. The 32-year-old Callens, making her 12th appearance at Wimbledon and who was knocked out by the top seed in the third round last year, did not go down without a fight. She held her own in the first set, but after the world No.1 broke her in the fifth game was unable to find an answer to the champion’s forceful service game. Despite coming out positively in the second set, she was swiftly broken by Williams, who looked to have the match wrapped up after surging into a 4-0 lead.

Mahesh-Max win

The top seed pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi entered the second round of the Wimbledon Tennis Championship in style. The Indo-Belarus pair defeatedJames Auckland and Lee Childs 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. In the 2nd round they clash with Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic.

But the Belgian refused to buckle, holding serve then breaking Williams’ serve for the first time, before levelling the scores to the roars of an appreciative crowd. Williams broke back in the ninth game with a scything forehand winner and from there she served out the set. In the women’s draw Jennifer Capriati thrashed Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian 6-2, 6-1 and Mary Pierce ousted 14th seed Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-1. The powerful former Australian and French Open champion, now ranked 86, brushed aside Daniilidou on a sun-bathed court two to set up a showdown with American Lisa Raymond. (Reuters)