Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors played between the raindrops at Wimbledon Friday and won.
Agassi overcame a series of rain delays and a lack of grass-court experience to defeat Grant Connell 4-6, 6-1, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 for his first victory at Wimbledon.Connors, a two time champion, came through with a 6-2, 6-0, 7-5 victory over Veli Paloheimo in a match they were to have played last Monday.
Agassi, whose only previous visit had ended in a first-round loss in 1987, seemed to gain confidence during the match that began Thursday and was interrupted twice Friday by showers.
The fifth seed ventured farther and farther from his usual perch on the baseline as the match progressed, even trying some serve-and-volley play in the final set of the.
"It feels like a crapshoot out there. You just throw the dice and hope they roll your way," said Agassi, who played in an all-white outfit. "Wimbledon is a shot-making tournament, you see shots here you don't see anywhere else.
"I had a great time. I don't think I've ever enjoyed playing as much as I have the last couple of days."
Connors was happy just to be playing.
"It's been a rough four days. Just to get out of the locker room is a thrill," he said.
Fourth-seeded Jim Courier, the French Open winner and a natural baseliner, served and volleyed his way to a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 victory over Rodolphe Gilbert.
Tenth seed Goran Ivanisevic blasted 25 aces as he defeated local favorite Andrew Castle, and three seeded women - Amy Frazier, Katerina Maleeva and Jana Novotna - also advanced.
Ivanisevic, who lost in a semifinal thriller to Boris Becker last year at Wimbledon, completed a 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over the London resident in a match that started Tuesday.
Three women's seeds also won, but the 15th seed - clay-court specialist Sandra Cecchini - was eliminated 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 by Elizabeth Smylie.
Sixth seed Jana Novotna won 6-3, 6-0 over Nicole Pratt. Katerina Maleeva, seeded eighth, defeated Julie Salmon 7-5, 6-3. Amy Frazier, an American seeded 14th, won 7-6, 6-4 over Karin Kschwendt.
A light shower held up play for 26 minutes early in the afternoon and there were a couple of other rain delays, but the weather was better than the first four soggy days.
The incessant rain has forced a huge backlog of matches and led tournament officials to consider breaking tradition by playing this Sunday, usually a rest day.
Agassi was a ghostly vision at his long-overdue Wimbledon coming-out party, wearing white denim shorts over white biking shorts, a white shirt and a white headband.
The fluorescent lime shirt was gone. The neon pink shorts were left at home. A dangling gold earring was the only hint of his unique sartorial style.
The player whose flashy wardrobe has infuriated the tennis establishment looked like Frosty the Snowman as he stepped on the grass courts for the first time since 1987.
And he played like Frosty for parts of his match against Connell, serving poorly and moving as if his feet were stuck in slush.
Agassi lost the first set 6-4, then rallied to win the second set 6-1 and was tied 1-1 in the third before getting washed off court Thursday by a thunderstorm.
Agassi rallied to win the fourth set 7-5 on his fourth set point and was leading 2-1 in the fifth set when it rained for the second time of the afternoon.