ESPN.com - Wimbledon 2002 - Last American falls; Henman triumphs
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Thursday, July 17
Last American falls; Henman triumphs

WIMBLEDON, England -- Jeff Morrison, the last American in the men's draw, lost in straight sets, and for the first time in 80 years, no U.S. player advanced to the round of 16.

There was controversy, too, at the end of the first week. Britain's Tim Henman benefited from an overrule in a tiebreaker to beat Wayne Ferreira in four sets.

"I think it's shocking,'' Ferreira said. "If he (the umpire) had any decency, I think he would have at least come and apologized. ... I'm quite angry.''

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, had no trouble as he raced to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 win over 95th-ranked Austrian Julian Knowle in 88 minutes. Hewitt had 16 aces and committed only four unforced errors.

Morrison -- a lucky loser who upset ninth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round -- was eliminated 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-0 by No. 18 Sjeng Schalken.

It marks the first time since 1922 that no American man has advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon. It had already been the worst performance by American men at Wimbledon since the Open era began in 1968.

Henman, meanwhile, remained in contention to become the first British player to win the Wimbledon men's title in 66 years.

Coming from behind in both tiebreakers, the fourth-seeded Henman fed off the frenzied support of the crowd at Centre Court and took advantage of crucial mistakes by Ferreira to prevail 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-1 in 3½ hours.

The match hinged on a debatable line call with Ferreira serving with a 4-1 lead in the third-set tiebreaker.

The South African hit a forehand passing shot, which landed on or near the baseline. Both lines judges ruled the ball in. But, with Henman motioning that the ball was out, Portuguese chair umpire Jorge Dias overruled and gave him the point.

Television replays appeared to indicate the ball was in.

"Of course, I'm always going to see it out,'' Henman said. "It was tight, and those things can be important. But Wayne had a couple of net cords in that tiebreaker, as well. That was the turning point.''

Ferreira said he felt he was robbed by the umpire's call.

"It was a total intimidation thing I think,'' he said. "Tim, he was showing out. I don't blame him for that. The umpire gets paid, travels the year round, he is a professional. It was a very important call, a very important point. I feel I should have won that match in straight sets.''

Ferreira still had his chances, but failed to capitalize. At 5-4, he had two service points to win the tiebreaker. But he made a forehead error to make it 5-5 and then double-faulted on the next point. He reacted by smashing a ball out of the stadium in anger.

The tiebreaker was far from over, though.

Ferreira went on to save three set points -- at 6-5 with a backhand return winner, at 7-6 with an easy forehand pass, and at 8-7 with another sizzling backhand return.

But, on the fourth set point at 9-8, Ferreira took a big swing on a forehand half-volley and dumped the ball into the net.

The tiebreaker lasted 15 minutes and featured loud cheering and chanting by supporters of both players -- "Hen-Man! Hen-Man!'' and "Go Wayne Go!''

But the match was all but over after the tiebreaker. Henman broke a deflated Ferreira three times to win the fourth set and close out the match.

After a winning forehand volley on match point, Henman held up his fist to the crowd -- one of numerous times throughout the afternoon he pumped and gestured to fire himself up and get the fans behind him.

The match was played in a Davis Cup-style atmosphere, with an almost even level of support between South African and British supporters waving their national flags.

"The best atmosphere I think I've ever played,'' Ferreira said. "It was one of the most unbelievable matches I've played from that respect. Even though I lost today, I had a wonderful time.''

Henman, who lost in the Wimbledon semifinals three times in the past four years, is under intense domestic pressure as he seeks to become the first British man to win the championship since Fred Perry in 1936.

He'll next face Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil, who beat Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

Two more seeded men lost Saturday: No. 16 Nicole Escude of France and No. 17 Rainer Schuettler of Germany.

Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Escude 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; while Spain's Feliciano Lopez -- who saved a total of seven match points in his first two matches -- downed Schuettler 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4.

Fifteen of the top 17 seeded men were eliminated in the first week -- only top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and Henman remain.

Among those eliminated earlier this week were second-seeded Marat Safin, No. 3 Andre Agassi and No. 6 Pete Sampras. In the bottom half of the draw, the highest-seeded player left is No. 22 Nicolas Lapentti.

Lopez will next play Andre Sa, who downed Flavio Saretta 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in only the third all-Brazilian Grand Slam match in the Open era. It's the farthest that 90th-ranked Sa has ever gone in a Grand Slam.

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