British Are Coming, It’s at Wimbledon

God doesn’t need to be an Englishman, as long as Wimbledon’s tournament committee continues to show favoritism to British players at their national championship. At the All England Club, the tournament committee’s power is almighty.

Seeding according to its whims and ignoring rankings is one way of exercising it, scheduling is another. Think the matchup of Tim Henman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov would have been scheduled in the prime spot of second on Centre Court if one player were not British?

Not likely, even if Kafelnikov is seeded fifth and the French Open champion. Henman, 21, greatly benefited from the support of 13,500 cheering English fans during his first-round match Tuesday, as he eliminated Kafelnikov, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-7 (7-2), 4-6, 7-5.

Such an upset is going to cause the nation to explode with pride, so eager are English tennis fans to cheer for a home player. The last time an Englishman was seeded here was in 1982 and the last time an English player upset a seeded player was in 1973.

In hopes of just such an upset as Henman’s, they stacked the deck, and the draw. All eight wild cards available to the men’s draw were given to British players, although it is more or less standard procedure to pack local players who have no hope of qualifying into the “free” places in the draw.

Still, when the English do it, there seems an edge of desperation.

There are so few talented English players that the progress of each one through this tournament is carefully charted and agonizingly followed. Last year’s English No. 1, Greg Rusedski, was born and raised in Canada. But after the British federation outbid Canada for his services, he obtained a British passport through tenuous family ties to England.

Rusedski, Henman and three other English players advanced Tuesday. There are seven British men still in the tournament, the most in the second round since 1976. Only one Englishwoman remains.

The country is giddy with its tennis success, added to the much bigger news of the English soccer renewal: England plays Germany in the semifinals of the European soccer championships today in London.

“At the moment things are very positive in this country on the sports side,” Henman said, smiling broadly.

Henman will play fellow Brit Danny Sapsford in the second round today, thus reducing the numbers on the home front.

The match was an edgy display of elegant serving and volleying. Both players showed great courage: Kafelnikov was being beaten but he never gave up, Henman lost a huge lead but never choked.

Henman faced down two match points from Kafelnikov, and when he faced break points in the 11th game of the fifth set, he answered with an ace and a service winner.

Henman’s the hero now, but last year he was the national goat, becoming the first player ever to be defaulted from Wimbledon after he inadvertently hit a ballgirl in the head with a ball. The incident caused a national uproar.

Henman was teamed with Jeremy Bates in doubles, and they were playing the team of Jeff Tarango and Henrik Holm. Henman’s team, leading two sets to one, was serving three points into the fourth-set tiebreaker. Tarango hit a service return winner that enraged Henman.

Henman grabbed the ball and struck it hard toward the net. At the same moment, a ballgirl ran across the net and was stuck in the temple by the ball. The child was removed from the court, ice was administered to her head and she was sent home.

A national uproar was mollified only somewhat when officials arranged a cheery photo-op a few days later between the fully recovered and somewhat embarrassed ballgirl and the thoroughly humiliated Henman.

Henman’s faux pas was forgotten later in the tournament when Tarango was defaulted after he walked off the court during a singles match.

Henman is back in the good graces of the public, which was wildly behind him for his first time on Centre Court.

“Until you play in front of that, you can’t understand what it’s like,” Henman said of the crowd. “It’s absolutely phenomenal. They were behind me the whole time. I’m sure that was a great help to me. It was a good day all round for all the British players.”

Kafelnikov had a different view. He called it a “tragic day” at the same time he accepted the defeat with equanimity.

“Of course, I’d like to prove that I’m not a player who can only win on clay courts,” he said. “I’d like to prove that I’m a good grass-court player and prove that I belong in the top 10.

“Hopefully, when I come to Wimbledon next year, I won’t do the same mistake twice. But he played good today, he won his match and tomorrow he’ll be the British hero.”