Shelton Sticks It to Stich on Court 2 : Wimbledon: American stuns former champion in first round, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
WIMBLEDON, England — Stick another tombstone outside infamous Court No. 2, known as “the graveyard of champions,†and busier than ever Wednesday, as unseeded Bryan Shelton shocked the late great second-seeded Michael Stich in three “did-you-see-that?†sets.
The American’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory so thoroughly exasperated Stich that the former Wimbledon champion stormed off the sun-soaked court and didn’t bother to look back, not even as a chorus of boos from the standing-room-only crowd of 3,000 followed each angry step.
Earlier, the games slipping away one by one, Stich had delivered a wonderful overhead smash to his equipment bag, followed soon thereafter by another tantrum that left a thin divot in the turf.
“You can’t expect a player when he loses in three sets, having high expectations, to smile and say, ‘Thank you very much, it was a great day,’ †Stich fumed afterward.
Shelton was one of several Americans, some prominent, some not, who won Wednesday.
Andre Agassi, a former champion who is seeded 12th, needed nearly 3 1/2 hours and five sets to defeat Venezuela’s Nicolas Pereira, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, to advance to the second round. Fifth-seeded Jim Courier, whose opening match was postponed Tuesday, beat Zimbabwe’s Byron Black, 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4. It was Courier’s fourth victory over Black in as many meetings.
Top-seeded and defending champion Pete Sampras had a much easier time in his second-round match, defeating fellow American Richey Reneberg, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, in 87 minutes. No. 6 Todd Martin beat Germany’s Patrick Kuhnen, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, and Michael Chang ground out a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-6), 6-7 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Australian Michael Tebbutt.
In women’s play, Lori McNeil followed her upset of No. 1 Steffi Graf with a 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, victory over Japan’s Yone Kamio. Ninth-seeded Lindsay Davenport of Murrieta reached the third round by beating South Africa’s Tessa Price, 6-4, 6-2, in 69 minutes.
But it was Shelton’s shocker that sent the most shivers down Wimbledon’s back Wednesday. Until late last week, Shelton not only was unseeded, he was uninvited. The Georgia Tech graduate, his ranking an absolute rambling wreck at No. 120, was reduced to having to earn one of the precious 16 qualifying spots for Wimbledon.
He squeaked in--his sixth Wimbledon appearance--and then waited for the draw. The news was good.
He got Stich.
Since losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, Stich has done more diving than a Stuka. He lost in the first round of the 1993 U.S. Open, in the first round of this year’s Australian Open and in the second round of the recent French Open. For Stich, the Slam events have been anything but Grand.
Still, this was Bryan Shelton we were talking about, the same guy who had never beaten a player ranked in the top five. A British journalist writing for the daily Wimbledon program said of the Stich match: “The American Bryan Shelton is allocated the bleak task of attempting to inter him.â€
Translation: Shelton, one of only two African-American male players on the pro circuit, began the tournament with more losses than victories this season, 14-12. His previous claim to fame was serving as a ballboy to Jimmy Connors during a 1977 match in Birmingham, Ala. Surely Stich could beat him .
He couldn’t. For only the second time in Wimbledon history, a No. 2-seeded player was sent packing after the opening round. It happened in 1931 . . . and then Wednesday.
In short, another day, another upset, another American doing the heavy Wimbledon lifting. This time it was Shelton. A day earlier it was the unseeded McNeil, who beat Graf, merely the prohibitive favorite to win a fourth consecutive title.
“I played a guy today . . . he could have closed his eyes and he could have hit the ball wherever he wanted to hit it,†Stich said. “He had all the luck on his side. I didn’t have one lucky ball for myself.â€
Shelton did have his share of shots that tripped over the net and fell in for winners. He hit an awkward backhand off the racket frame for another point. He kept his serves mostly deep and continually frustrated Stich, who yelled to Shelton in disbelief, “Are you OK?â€
Shelton was better than OK, he was magical. Stich, who didn’t play well or poorly, could find no weaknesses in Shelton’s usually erratic game.
“I think he felt like I was playing really good tennis,†said Shelton of Stich’s on-court question. “He felt I was playing above myself, and I did play good tennis today.â€
He also had the ghosts of upsets past on his side. John McEnroe lost on Court 2 in 1979. Connors staggered off its cozy, shaded confines in 1983. Ilie Nastase lost there in 1973, Arthur Ashe in 1976, Vitas Gerulaitis in 1979, Raul Ramirez in 1977, Tim Mayotte in 1990, Evonne Goolagong in 1974.
And now Stich, felled by the curse of Court 2.
“So now I know what it means,†Stich said.
Stich made one brief attempt to get back into the match. He was up, 2-0, in the third set, but then watched helplessly as Shelton won the next four games.
Stich held serve the next two times, but so did Shelton, who finally got the victory when the German’s flailing backhand landed wide.
Moments later, with Stich long gone, Shelton turned to the audience, raised his arms in triumph and began pumping his fists. In the stands was his brother Nathaniel, an Army captain stationed in Germany who had traveled to Wimbledon for the first time to see Bryan play.
In Nathaniel’s hands was a homemade sign. “Go, Bryan,†it read.
He did, all the way past Stich and into the second round.
Reporters later surrounded Nikki Pilic, the German Davis Cup captain and Stich’s occasional teacher.
Was Stich injured? Is there a problem?
“He doesn’t have a problem,†Pilic said. “The problem is, he didn’t serve very well. The problem was Bryan.â€
Wimbledon Notes
Spain’s Conchita Martinez, now considered one of the favorites in the women’s singles, defeated Japan’s Nana Miyagi, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). . . . Third-seeded Stefan Edberg and No. 5 Jana Novotna also won their Wednesday matches. . . . Pete Sampras, on Bryan Shelton’s upset of Michael Stich: “A tough first-round match for anybody. I’m surprised, but I’m not that surprised. Upsets happen.†And this: “Out of all the rounds, you feel a bit vulnerable in the first round or second.â€
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