After Delays, Becker Doesn’t Waste Time Putting Away Ferreira

It rained on Wayne’s world Tuesday.

Delayed overnight by darkness and for two hours by rain, Wayne Ferreira had Boris Becker in his sights in their fourth-round match at Wimbledon, then missed his shot.

There are only so many opportunities available for knocking out a three-time champion and Ferreira, a 20-year-old South African, had a pretty fair one in his hands as he walked on soggy Centre Court to face Becker in the fifth set.

The way it turned out, the only thing delayed was another Becker victory.

Under a sky the color of dirty socks, it took Becker 29 minutes to complete a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (8-6), 6-1 decision and fill out the quarterfinal bracket where he is scheduled to meet Andre Agassi today.

There may be a couple of streaks at stake. Becker, who has won his last nine five-set matches, has never lost a Wimbledon quarterfinal. But he has lost to Agassi the last five times they have met, although they have never played on grass.

“I have to keep my mind together and just play tough all the time,” Becker said. “But with him, you never know.”

Against Ferreira, Becker scored the only break he needed in the second game when Ferreira failed to win a point.

Becker broke again for 5-1 on a wicked backhand passing shot down the line, then served out the match with a booming service game and took off for the quarterfinals.

The Agassi-Becker winner will face the winner of John McEnroe’s bout with Guy Forget in the semifinals. McEnroe, who began the tournament a 66-1 underdog according to the William Hill sports book, has moved to 8-1, the bettors’ third choice behind Stefan Edberg at 5-2 and Michael Stich and Becker at 9-2.

McEnroe, 33, the oldest player in the men’s draw, is playing his 14th Wimbledon and is 7-1 in the quarterfinals--having lost only to Kevin Curren in 1985.

Still, he isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Anything could happen,” McEnroe said. “I’m not going out there and assuming that I’m going to win just because my name is John McEnroe.

“I have to play great tennis and I feel like I am playing good tennis.”

Pete Sampras also thinks he has been playing good tennis, which isn’t going to hurt his chances in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal--against defending champion Stich.

But Sampras said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more of McEnroe.

“He’s playing with a lot of emotion, he’s got the experience, he won his last match in three sets so he’ll be rested,” Sampras said. “I see him beating Forget.”

Edberg meets Goran Ivanisevic in one of the more intriguing quarterfinals and must contend with Ivanisevic’s high-powered serve. Edberg’s fellow Swede, Bjorn Borg, predicted that Edberg would fail.

“We’ll see if he’s right,” Edberg said.