Rain Holds Court

No player got more than 12 games played at Wimbledon on Monday. Only 12 players completed a set. There wasn’t a finished match Monday on opening day at Wimbledon.

Good news for the 32,272 fans in attendance. At least there was less than an hour of tennis played. That means they get a complete refund; more than an hour but less than two would have meant only a 50% refund.

Roger Federer, the top-seeded player and three-time defending champion, was on his way to a record-breaking 42nd straight grass-court victory with his 6-3, 1-2 lead over 20-year-old Richard Gasquet on Centre Court. At mid-afternoon Federer could be seen pacing in the players’ dining room, eager to get back on court and get finished.

Federer, from Switzerland, had said Sunday he wanted to watch his country play Ukraine in a second-round World Cup match Monday night. When play was canceled about 7:20 p.m., he got his wish.

At the end of a long day the final announcement came:

“Unfortunately, the weather conditions have not improved and there is no prospect of the courts drying off before light fails. The referee has reluctantly agreed to abandon play for the day. We realize this has been disappointing and frustrating for all of you. Thank you for attending the championships. Have a safe journey home and good night.”

The voice seemed sincere. Politely filing out were hundreds of leftover fans who had stood huddled under their umbrellas and ponchos, stacked up against the windows of the press room to watch Italy beat Australia, 1-0, on the tiny televisions set up on each media desk. Having to leave was taken in stride.

“This is Wimbledon after all,” said William Knight of the Kensington district of London. “It will rain. Just bad luck for me.”

Of the 64 matches scheduled for opening day, 17 got started. None got further than early in the second set. Today’s schedule is now packed with 91 matches, though in typical Wimbledon tradition, play will not start earlier than noon on the outer courts and 1 p.m. on Centre Court and Court 1.

Because of the rain, for example, America’s James Blake, seeded No. 8, will now play against Kristian Pless of Denmark on the smaller, less prominent Court 18 instead of Court 1.

Defending women’s champion Venus Williams had her opener with Bethanie Mattek moved back at least until Wednesday -- assuming rain stays away.

There hadn’t been rain in London for the last two weeks but when the start of play on the outer courts was first delayed by 59 minutes Monday morning it meant that for the 11th straight year rain interrupted at least part of the tournament. After play resumed, the rain came back about 30 minutes later. Officials waited 5 1/2 hours before finally announcing the day was over.

Two years ago, all but three days of the two-week event were interrupted at least once by rain and two days were completely washed out. But the tournament still finished on time.

Sitting in the players’ lounge and looking calm was Britain’s Tim Henman, a veteran of 13 Wimbledons and hardly a novice in waiting out the rain.

“I can’t even estimate how many times I’ve done this,” Henman said. “I’ve had a few. You have to be patient and stay ready. You never know when it might clear up in 10 minutes.”

This wasn’t one of those days.

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Featured matches

No matches were completed at Wimbledon on opening day:

TODAY

* Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Richard Gasquet, France, comp. of suspended match.

* Andre Agassi (25) vs. Boris Pashanski, Serbia.

* Nicolas Massu (31), Chile, vs. Andy Murray, Britain.

* Robin Soderling, Sweden, vs. Tim Henman, Britain.

* Kim Clijsters (2), Belgium, vs. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, completion of suspended match.

* Alex Bogdanovic, Britain, vs. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain.

* Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, vs. Andy Roddick (3).

* Martina Hingis (12), Switzerland, vs. Olga Savchuk, Ukraine, comp. of suspended match.

* Greg Rusedski, Britain, vs. Marat Safin, Russia.