Rios’ Early Departure Marks a Day of Discord for the Men

The European vacation of accidental tourist Marcelo Rios has quickly gone from bad to worse.

He lasted three days into Wimbledon, and that was only because of the rain. The second-seeded Rios lost in five sets to Francisco Clavet of Spain--not exactly a grass-court guru himself--and sounded like a disgruntled tourist Wednesday, complaining about Wimbledon and such issues as transportation.

It was one of those dissonant days on the men’s side.

Action started with Canadian-turned-Brit Greg Rusedski pulling out because of his injured left ankle, and then his coach, Tony Pickard, dumped him later in the day in an acrimonious split. The fourth-seeded Rusedski tried to play his opening match against Mark Draper of Australia on Tuesday and rain interrupted play in the third set after the two split the first two.

Pickard, who once coached Stefan Edberg, said Rusedski quit listening to him and that he never should have played on his injured ankle. Rusedski practiced Wednesday and realized he could not continue.

The day ended in the fading light with 13th-seeded Andre Agassi leaving the court firing angry words at chair umpire John Frame, who failed to overrule a bad line call in a third-set tiebreaker.

Agassi, who won the opening set, 6-4, but dropped the second, 6-1, lost the tiebreaker to Tommy Haas of Germany and grew angry when a forehand by Haas went long and wide but was called good. Television replays showed the shot was out. The critical point gave Haas a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker and he won the set two points later.

“I can honestly say that in 12 years, I’ve never seen one missed that poorly,” Agassi said to Frame, leaving the court when the match was called because of darkness. “That’s not an exaggeration.”

In between, an uninspired Rios did little to enhance his reputation on or off the court. He looked nothing like the player who was ranked No. 1 earlier this year, thrilling his countrymen in Chile.

“I’m not feeling really good right now,” Rios said after his 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 loss. “I’m not enjoying playing on the grass. Maybe that’s why it looks like I’m not trying. I’m trying, but maybe that’s why it looks like it.”

He did not win a match on grass in England or anywhere else this year.

“I never like it [grass],” he said. “You mis-hit a lot of balls. I have to learn not to get [angry]. I had a really bad loss in Nottingham that made me feel bad.”

Then he was dismissive of Wimbledon after some prodding from British journalists. One asked: “Do you feel Wimbledon is overrated?”

“I think so, yes,” said Rios, who probably created a few tabloid headlines. “Maybe there are little things that they’re not very good at in this tournament, the organization, the transportation.”

Will he return next year?

“I’ve been saying every year that I not come but in the end I come,” said Rios, who lost to Boris Becker in the fourth round last year.

In addition to Rios and Rusedski, two other seeded players lost on the men’s side. Switzerland’s Marc Rosset defeated eighth-seeded Cedric Pioline of France, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 13-11, in three hours 53 minutes. The final set lasted 78 minutes. Pioline was a finalist here last year. Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus beat 15th-seeded Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4. Kucera also lost in the first round here last year.

Top-seeded Pete Sampras advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden.

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Wimbledon at a Glance

* When: Through July 5. Women’s final on July 4. Men’s final on July 5.

* Where: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England.

* Defending champions: Men--Pete Sampras; Women--Martina Hingis.

* TV: Through Friday, HBO, 6 a.m.-noon; Saturday, NBC, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Sunday, day off (highlights from earlier matches, NBC, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.).

How Seeded Players Fared Wednesday

MEN

First Round

Francisco Clavet, Spain, def. Marcelo Rios (2), Chile, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Mark Draper, Australia, def. Greg Rusedski (4), Britain, 4-6, 6-2, 5-4, retired.

Carlos Moya (5), Spain, def. Mahesh Bhupathi, India, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Marc Rosset, Switzerland, def. Cedric Pioline (8), France, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 13-11.

Richard Krajicek (9), Netherlands, def. Brett Steven, New Zealand, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-2.

Jonas Bjorkman (11), Sweden, def. David Dilucia, Norristown, Pa., 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Goran Ivanisevic (14), Croatia, def. Grant Stafford, South Africa, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Vladimir Voltchkov, Belarus, def. Karol Kucera (15), Slovakia, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4.

Second Round

Pete Sampras (1), Tampa, Fla., def. Mikael Tillstrom, Sweden, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Petr Korda (3), Czech Republic, def. Filip Dewulf, Belgium, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Tim Henman (12), Britain, def. David Nainkin, South Africa, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Felix Mantilla (16), Spain, def. Radomir Vasek, Czech Republic, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

WOMEN

First Round

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (5), Spain, def. Catalina Cristea, Romania, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.

Patty Schnyder (13), Switzerland, def. Helena Sukova, Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Second Round

Lindsay Davenport (2), Newport Beach, def. Larisa Neiland, Latvia, 6-1, 7-5.

Steffi Graf (4), Germany, def. Henrieta Nagyova, Slovakia, 6-0, 6-4.

Monica Seles (6), Sarasota, Fla., def. Alexandra Fusai, France, 6-1, 6-1.

Naoko Sawamatsu, Japan, def. Amanda Coetzer (9), South Africa, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Sandrine Testud (14), France, def. Seda Noorlander, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-1.

Nathalie Tauziat (16), France, def. Iva Majoli, Croatia, 6-0, 6-1.

Today’s Featured Matches

MEN: Moya (5) vs. Hicham Arazi; Tommy Haas vs. Andre Agassi (13), completion of suspended match. Haas leads, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

WOMEN: Martina Hingis (1) vs. Elena Makarova; Jana Novotna (3) vs. Tatiana Panova; Magdalena Grzybowska vs. Sanchez Vicario (5); Barbara Schett vs. Venus Williams (7); Conchita Martinez (8) vs. Kristie Boogert (Martinez leads, 7-5, 4-4); Serena Williams vs. Mirjana Lucic.