At the Masters Tournament at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic thanks a rain shower for keying his win over Britain's Tim Henman in the 2001 semifinals. Ivanisevic ended up winning the final over Pat Rafter.
"Tim deserved to win Wimbledon, he had a good game to win it, and he was very close against me," Ivanisevic said. "He was dominating me and then the rain came. It saved me. If it hadn’t come I probably would have lost that match, but then after the rain, something changed. He wasn’t the same Tim Henman any more. God sent me the rain and I thank God I won every day because I do not like to think what I would be doing now if I had not won."
The two played a match at Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday, which was fittingly won by Ivanisevic 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 (Champions’ Tie-Break).
"Goran’s serve in the first set was as good as anyone’s ever served against me, and I really mean that," said Henman. —Matthew Cronin