Rain holds off for Henman game

12 April 2012

Britain's great tennis hope Tim Henman has begun playing for a place in the Wimbledon quarter finals. Greg Rusedski is due on centre court later today.

The British number one and two remain the only two home players left in the singles tournament - but their presence very much keeps alive the nation's dream of a Briton lifting tennis' most prestigious title in the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.

But another regular visitor is expected to call on the all-England lawn tennis club today which could dampen their plans.

A spokeswoman for the PA WeatherCentre said rain showers were expected later today and the weather would remain unsettled throughout the week.

The news will disappoint organisers and fans alike especially after a first week of glorious sunshine.

Henman is taking on Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil on Court Number One while Rusedski will play Belgium's Xavier Malisse on Centre Court.

Britain's remaining woman player, teenager Elaine Baltacha ended her Wimbledon dream on Saturday losing in the third round.

Other shocks during the first week included a Wimbledon wipe-out of the mens' top seeds with a staggering 13 of the top 15 being knocked out - including seven times champion Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi as well as the world number two Marat Safin.

A record crowd of around 245,000 people passed through the gates during the first week - up to 1,000 more than last year's record attendance figures.

Two other records broken during the week included the highest ever crowd for a single day - 42,457 on Wednesday - and the highest recorded figure for the first Friday of the tournament - 41,595.

Chief Executive of the All England club, Christopher Gorringe said: "From a British perspective it has been an exciting week and we hope that both Greg and Tim can continue that success into the second week."

Another game likely to catch the interest today is a "glamour match" between tennis beauties Jelena Dokic, from Yugoslavia and the new darling of the courts Daniela Hantuchova, dubbed "the Legs from Slovakia".

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