Spoils Go to Ivanisevic

In Act III at the Old Globe Theater, you don’t necessarily expect the hero to emerge triumphant. Why should the third day of a Shakespearean drama at the All England Club be different?

Tim Henman, who within a fortnight went from Tiny Tim to Tiger Tim in the local headlines, finally fell in Wimbledon’s semifinals Sunday, failing to become the first Englishman since Bunny Austin in 1938 to advance to the final.

Instead, Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic, considered a has-been as of two weeks ago and here only by special invitation because of his three previous appearances in the final, will play today for the championship against Australia’s Pat Rafter, Ivanisevic having beaten Henman, 7-6, 6-7 (6), 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Officially, the match lasted 3 hours 3 minutes. In reality, it took 45 hours to finish a match that began as the second feature on Center Court on Friday and was suspended on successive days due to intermittent rain.

It was an agonizing three days for the English who follow tennis and even for many who don’t as Henman’s advance through his bracket competed with the royal family and Lord Archer’s trial at the Old Bailey for front-page headlines.

After waiting 63 years for a men’s finalist and 65 years for a men’s champion--Fred Perry was the last--the English don’t often allow themselves to become this excited about the prospect of a local contender.

Henman, 26, from Oxford, had twice before advanced to the semifinals. But with the upset loss in the fourth round of No. 1-seeded Pete Sampras, who would have been waiting for the Englishman in the quarterfinals, Henman’s campaign took on a sense of destiny.

Center Court crowds, usually models of restraint, cheered at times like soccer fans when Henman played, although John McEnroe chided them for acting with too much reserve. He should have gone to Henman Hill, the area inside the grounds where thousands of fans gathered to watch on a giant video screen. Or to the pubs throughout the country that suddenly were showing tennis highlights on their televisions instead of rugby and cricket.

“Sleepless [at Wimbledon] as Henman carries the dreams of a nation,” the Times of London declared in a headline Saturday.

The bell tolled for Henman on Sunday after 14 minutes.

When play resumed, on schedule despite a light rain in the morning, Ivanisevic was leading, 3-2, in the fifth set and Henman was serving at 30-15.

Henman held for 3-3, then Ivanisevic double-faulted to open the seventh game. From the roar of the crowd, you’d have thought Sir Stanley Matthews had returned to lead the English soccer side.

Ivanisevic rallied to hold serve, then got two quick break points on Henman. Was this the cracking point for Henman, who usually succumbs to pressure? Or had he truly transformed himself into a tiger?

Maybe a tiger. His winning forehand volley and service winner evened the game at 40-40. Then he double-faulted. Maybe not a tiger. Ivanisevic won the game on the next point and, suddenly, was serving for the match at 5-3.

Then it was his turn to feel the pressure.

“My arm, jeez, it felt like it weighed 10 kilos [22 pounds],” he said.

The best server in the tournament, he couldn’t get in a first serve and wasn’t too sure on his second. He double-faulted at 30-15, and again, on his first match point, at 40-30. But a second-serve ace and a service winner did in Henman.

Perhaps embarrassed by their previous behavior, the fans regained their graciousness and cheered unreservedly for Ivanisevic.

But they had to be thinking of what might have been.

Henman was, believing he would be in the final if the match had not been suspended when he had momentum Friday.

“Having won 10 of 11 games at that stage, I think I was sort of in the process of dismantling his game,” he said.

Ivanisevic didn’t disagree.

“God saved me, sending the rain,” he said.

The All England Club also saved him, awarding him a wild-card exemption into the tournament. Ivanisevic, 29, lost in the final here in 1992, ’94 and ’98 but has suffered from a left shoulder injury--presumably caused by years of scorching serves--the last two years and dropped to 125th in the rankings.

Every victory here, in that sense, has been a upset. Henman was seeded No. 6.

Today, Ivanisevic faces No. 3 Rafter, who beat Andre Agassi in the semifinals before the thunderclouds arrived Friday. The two-time U.S. Open champion is in his second final in a row here, losing last year to Sampras.

Rafter, 28, has said that this could be his final Wimbledon. He also has shoulder problems, an occupational hazard for big servers, and had surgery in 1999. He said before this season that he will take six months at the end of the year to contemplate retirement.

The seventh of nine children raised on an Australian farm, he is an unpretentious player who is extremely popular both with fans and most of his competitors. He looks different this year, having shorn his long locks. He did so in return for a sizable contribution by a razor company to his Cherish the Children Foundation.

Even Ivanisevic acknowledges that it is difficult to root against Rafter. Although they have been on the tour together since the early ‘90s, they have met only three times, Rafter holding a 2-1 lead.

“I’m playing a guy who is a good friend of mine,” Ivanisevic said. “He’s a great tennis player. But he says he’s going to retire. How’s he going to come defend his title [on the first] Monday next year?

“So it’s better that I win, you know. I am available next year on Monday. Nothing better to do.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HEAD TO HEAD

1996 Wimbledon, R16: Goran Ivanisevic, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1

1998 U.S. Open, R16: Patrick Rafter, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

1999 Rome, R64: Patrick Rafter, 7-5, 6-0

*

Live: 4 a.m. MSNBC Delayed: 10 a.m. Ch. 4 (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Men’s Road to the Final

PATRICK RAFTER (No. 3 seeded)

First round d. Daniel Vacek, 6-2, 7-6 (7), 6-3

Second round d. Slava Dosedel, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

Third round d. Hicham Arazi (27), 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5

Fourth round d. Mikhail Youzhny, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

Quarterfinals d. Thomas Enqvist (10), 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (5)

Semifinals d. Andre Agassi (2), 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 8-6

GORAN IVANISEVIC (Unseeded)

First round d. Fredrik Jonsson, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Second round d. Carlos Moya (21), 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Third round d. Andy Roddick, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3

Fourth round d. Greg Rusedski, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4

Quarterfinals d. Marat Safin (4), 7-6 (2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3)

Semifinals d. Tim Henman (6), 7-5, 6-7 (6), 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3