Wimbledon 98: Court circular

A GLANCE through the archives is all it takes to confirm that phrases such as "excellent weather", "ideal weather but rather hot" and "brilliant sunshine" to describe the conditions over the fortnight are all but a thing of the past. Only twice in the last 20 years has there been no rain at all during the Championships.

With these statistics in mind, maybe Lindsay Davenport's warm-up strategy for Wimbledon didn't quite cover all the bases. "Every year I go back and forth about whether I should play a warm-up tournament or not but this year a friend of mine told me she was practising on a grass court five minutes from where I live in Newport Beach, California. She invited me to use it which meant that I was able to practice on grass for two weeks without any bad weather," explains the American.

Although Davenport feels that technically she is well prepared for Wimbledon, surely it's only taking part in the European tournaments that can really prepare a player for "The Big One". Not only do they provide competitive grass court practice but they are also kind enough to lay on the torrential rain that gets a player used to sprinting in and out of the locker-room when the inevitable drops begin to fall in SW19.

Rafter offers advice to Henman hordes

WITH TIM Henman's four-set victory over Byron Black taking him safely through to the last 16, his opponent, Australian heart-throb Pat Rafter felt it was time to give the home fans a few pointers on how best to support their man.

"Sometimes a crowd can put a lot of pressure on you," says Rafter who found out all there is to know about pressure, expectation and adulation at the Australian Open in January.

"Sometimes when you're down and they say "Come on, Tim" [in the manner of a whiny child on Neighbours] and you're like "I'm trying!" [in the manner of a pouting adolescent on Neighbours], "I know how that feels," he says. "They want you to win so badly, but it's just the way they say it. If they say it with a bit more sprite in it, it makes it a bit more fun to play."

Rafter doesn't share his thoughts about how flag-waving might affect our Timmy, but no doubt he would agree that cheering his opponent's unforced errors is a definite no-no. Oh, and if you're a Henman fan and he's making a bit of a meal of the match, don't tell him to hurry up because you're missing the football.

Jane Marlow

Monica Seles and Sandrine Testud play on despite the smoke billowing from Saturday's fire in a flat owned by former Davis Cup captain Warren Jacques PA

DEEDS OF THE SEEDS

1 SAMPRAS

Starts today a set up against Enqvist in R3

Men's

singles

Holder:

Pete Sampras (United States)

OUT

2 RIOS

Defeat in five sets by Spain's Clavet

3 KORDA

Facing Dutch test of Van Lottum in R4

INJ

4 RUSEDSKI

Ankle injury forces him out in R1

OUT

5 MOYA

Beaten by Morocco's Arazi in R3

6 RAFTER

Faces Henman today on Centre Court in R4

OUT

7 KAFELNIKOV

Beaten in four sets in R1 by Philippoussis

OUT

8 PIOLINE

Lost five-set R1 marathon to Rosset

9 KRAJICEK

Restarts R3 match with Kiefer today

OUT

10 CORRETJA

Surprise R1 defeat by Gimelstob

OUT

11 BJORKMAN

Defeat by Siemerink in R3

12 HENMAN

Today facing a R4 battle against Rafter

OUT

13 AGASSI

Beaten by Germany's Haas in R3

OUT

15 KUCERA

Shocked by Belarus qualifier Voltchkov

14 IVANISEVIC

Meets Czech Vacek in third round today

16 MANTILLA

Meets French qualifier Grosjean in R3

Women's

singles

Holder:

Martina Hingis (Switzerland)

1 HINGIS

Likhovtseva latest victim in R3

2 DAVENPORT

Spain's Serna up next in R4 for Lindsay

3 NOVOTNA

Takes on Moriaru in R3 today

OUT

4 GRAF

Straight sets shocker by Zvereva in R3

5 SANCHEZ

Perennial bridesmaid into R4

6 SELES

Faces French test of Testud in R4

7 WILLIAMS

American faces Rubin today in R3

OUT

8 MARTINEZ

Shocked by Britain's Sam Smith in R3

OUT

9 COETZER

Defeat in R2 by Japan's Sawamatsu

10 SPIRLEA

Takes on South African De Beer in R3

OUT

11 PIERCE

Shock defeat in first round by Tartakova

INJ

12 KOURNIKOVA

Thumb injury forces her out before start

OUT

13 SCHNYDER

Beaten by Zimbabwe's Black in R2

14 TESTUD

Tough match next against Seles in R4

15 VAN ROOST

Faces Appelmans today in R3

16 TAUZIAT

Britain's Sam Smith is next in R4

CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

13 Number of games behind schedule after four days' rain.

17 The seeds of 32 who survived the first week.

305 Seating capacity on Court 19.

4 The weeks world No 1 Pete Sampras lost his top ranking to Marcelo Rios.

182 Number of ball-boys and girls used in the fortnight.

1.85 The price of 10 strawberries at Wimbledon.

68 degrees Fahrenheit the temperature of new balls.

LATEST ODDS

Men's singles (Fourth round): 1/2 P Rafter v T Henman 6/4; 1/2 M Philippoussis v J Stoltenberg 6/4; 5/6 M Larsson v T WoodbridgeJ Siemerink 5/6.

Champion: Men's: Evens Sampras; 6 Ivanisevic; 7 Krajicek; 12 Rafter; 14 Korda; 16 Philippoussis; 20 Henman; 25 bar. Women's: 4-5 Hingis; 9- 2 Seles; 7 Novotna, Venus Williams; 10 Davenport; 25 bar.

(Odds supplied by Ladbrokes)

TODAY'S WEATHER

Unsettled, with rain likely.

Maximum temperature 18C (64F)