25 June 2007Yahoo! NewsAngus MacKinnon
With much of England bracing itself for the "wettest day in 50 years" the 121st Wimbledon got off to the kind of soggy start that has become as traditional as strawberries and cream at the biggest tournament in tennis.
Although southwest London was expected to be spared the worst of the weather, the rain was still heavy enough for the scheduled 1100 GMT start to play to be put back by several hours.
World number one Roger Federer, due to start his bid to match Bjorn Borg's run of five straight titles on centre court, was among the dozens of stars kicking their heels in the locker rooms of the All England club as organisers fretted over a looming scheduling headache.
"It looks like we could have a sticky two or three days," admitted the tournament referee Andrew Jarrett.
"All we can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The weather is the one thing we have no control over."
For the handful of home fans shivering under umbrellas on the newly roofless centre court, the miserable weather compounded the gloom generated by British number one Andy Murray's late withdrawal from the tournament.
With the feisty Scot having decided not to risk aggravating a wrist injury and former number one Tim Henman badly out of form, local bookmakers were offering short odds on Britain being without a single representative in the second round of either the men's or women's singles.
Federer, unbeaten in his last 48 matches on grass, was due to face unheralded Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in his first round clash here and is not expected to run into any serious difficulty until a projected third round meeting with the unpredictable Marat Safin, one of the Swiss master's predecessors as world number one.
Centre Court is without a roof this year as work continues to build a new sliding roof by 2009.
Federer has come to know every corner of the main showcourt after dominating the tournament for the last four years, but he admits he does not quite know what to expect with it completely open to the elements.
"It's definitely going to play differently for sure with more wind being able to come into the stadium," he said. "Maybe it's going to be harder to keep the ball in play.
"I can really tell you more after the first match but it looks different than the previous years.
"It does feel like it was under construction to a point because you haven't seen the Wimbledon centre court this way forever.
"But I think the atmosphere is going to stay unique because the centre court is always sold out here."
Defending women's champion Amelie Mauresmo agrees that there is a danger that some big names could be blown off course if the wind does blow.
"It really is a little bit different," she said. "Not as closed as it used to be.
"Maybe that could change the conditions of play a little bit. I could it could be a bit more windy.
"But I think it's great that in a couple of years we will still be able to play some tennis with the roof closed if it rains."
After the despair of his French Open final defeat against Rafael Nadal, Federer was itching to get down to business on his beloved grass, having opted out of his traditional Wimbledon warm-up at the Halle tournament in Germany.
"There's a huge excitement for me every time when I walk through the corridors, down onto centre court, seeing the pictures, the board on the left with all the winners' names on it, and the trophy behind you," said the 25-year-old, who nevertheless admits to a few butterflies at the start of every tournament.
"That walk out on to centre court just gets you totally excited about the Championships. I'm confident but it still crosses your mind that you don't want to be the one defending champion that loses first."
