First Day of Wimbledon Rained Out

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - The opening round at Wimbledon 2006 commenced Monday, but not one result was recorded among the 32 men`s matches on the schedule due to rain. Top-seeded and three-time defending champion Roger Federer will have to wait until Tuesday to extend his grass-court winning streak to a record 42 matches. The mighty Swiss was leading Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 1-2 when play was halted for the day at the storied All England Club. Federer is tied with Bjorn Borg for grass-court excellence, as they are the only players to win 41 straight matches on the surface in the Open Era. Borg turned the trick, all at Wimbledon, from 1976-81. The legendary Swede captured an Open Era-record five straight Wimbledon titles before losing to John McEnroe in the 1981 finale. The seven-time Grand Slam titlist Federer is also the reigning U.S. and Australian Open champ. The super Swiss, who beat American Andy Roddick in the last two Wimbledon finales, lost to Spanish star Rafael Nadal in the French Open final earlier this month. Fifteen other seeds were on the Day-1 schedule, including fourth-seeded Tennis Masters Cup champion and 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian. Other seeds pushed into Tuesday were No. 7 Croat Mario Ancic and No. 8 American James Blake. The opening day slate was also supposed to feature long-time British crowd favorite Tim Henman, who will encounter Swede Robin Soderling here on Day 2. All 64 men`s first-round matches are now on Tuesday`s schedule. Federer will be joined on Day 2 by a second-seeded Nadal, a third-seeded Roddick, fifth- seeded Ivan Ljubicic, sixth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and 25th-seeded Andre Agassi, who is appearing in his 14th and final Wimbledon. The 36-year-old Agassi announced over the weekend that he will retire after this year`s U.S. Open. The eight-time major titlist captured his lone Wimbledon championship in 1992 and was the runner-up to the great Pete Sampras here in 1999. The iconic Agassi has been plagued by back problems in recent years and has appeared in only four tournaments this season. Agassi`s first-round opponent will be Serbian Boris Pashanski. The reigning two-time French Open champion Nadal will open against Brit Alex Bogdanovic, while the former world No. 1 and 2003 U.S. Open champ Roddick will meet Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. The 2002 Wimbledon winner Hewitt will face Italian Filippo Volandri. (Copyright 2005 by The Sports Network)