Henman walking a tightrope as rain stops play

TIM Henman’s bid to reach his fifth Wimbledon semi-final in six years was hanging by the finest of threads last night when rain forced suspension of play for the night after a frustrating day for fans and players alike.

The notoriously fickle British summer weather had largely spared the tournament during the first eight days.

But it struck back with a vengeance by playing havoc with the men's quarter-finals.

Showers forced the players involved in the first matches on the two main show courts back to their locker-room three times before referee Alan Mills finally called a halt at 7.20pm.

On centre court Henman's opponent Sebastien Grosjean was leading by two sets to one and due to serve at 1-2 in the fourth set when a light drizzle forced them off to the boos of frustrated spectators.

"It is frustrating but its a bit slippery out there and it is dangerous for the players," Mills said.

Over on court number one, Mark Philippoussis was 30-0 up on his serve at 2-2 in the fifth after overturning a two-set deficit against Alexander Popp.

The German had returned Philippoussis's serve superbly to claim the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 and put himself in sight of what would be a major upset.

But Philippoussis rallied to take the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 and was looking the more likely winner when play was suspended.

Both matches had been underway for barely a quarter of an hour before the players were forced to spend an hour and three minutes kicking their heels in the locker room.

Philippoussis and Popp had not even completed their warm-up when the second interruption came.

Henman and Grosjean managed to play for just two minutes long enough for the Frenchman to break the home favourite for the second time and give himself a chance to serve for the set.

Henman came back after the second break and rallied to force the match into a tiebreak in which he had four set points before finally losing 10-8.

Things looked ominous for Henman when he lost his serve in the first game of the second set but he broke straight back and went on to break Grosjean in the eighth game before serving out the set 6-3.

But it was to be Grosjean who seized the initiative once more in the third. Despite that, it was the Frenchman who was keener to come off at the end, angrily protesting the slippery court had become too dangerous.

The rain means the two other quarter-finals will have to be played entirely on Thursday, cutting down the recovery for the winners before Friday's semi-finals.

One player who may have been grateful for the rain was Sjeng Schalken, who was struggling to recover from a foot injury before his match against Swiss number one Roger Federer, and may have benefited from the extra day's rest.

Tournament favourite Andy Roddick faces Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman in the other quarter.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams insists she has no thoughts of revenge as she prepares to face Justine Henin- Hardenne in the Wimbledon semi-finals this afternoon.

The world number one was beaten by the Belgian in an epic last-four encounter at the French Open, a match in which Williams had to contend with a fiercely passionate crowd.

"What happened in Paris stayed in Paris. This is the semi-finals of Wimbledon and I will go in with the mindset of wanting to get to the final. It'll be a different match," she said.

And Henin-Hardenne denied there was any ill-feeling between her and Williams. "We're professionals and we talked in the locker room. There are no negative feelings at all." she said.

In the other semi-final, Venus Williams will face Henin-Hardenne's Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters.

Venus was given a test by Lindsay Davenport before winning in three sets. Clijsters set up a meeting with Venus by battling back from a first set loss to easily see off Silvia Farina Elia.