Yet we sympathised with the tormented lion in chains at the other

Yet we sympathised with the tormented lion in chains at the other end of the court Smith scored only 14 points in the fourth set. In the fifth Rosewall broke to 3-1 and then raced for the tape He reached it with a love game. Incredibly, the little man had turned a nightmare into a dream, a memory into fact The Centre Court vibrated with joy. And up in the stands, Wilma Rosewall and the boys, Brett and Glenn, applauded politely ­ feeling proud, but trying not to make too much fuss.Connors beat Rosewall 6-1 6-1 6-4 in the final.This report appeared originally in The Times on Saturday 6 July 1974.

Xavier Malisse is clean-shaven at the moment This is because the young Belgian only shaves if he loses. “I’m superstitious,” he says, “so when I’m winning, I let my beard grow.” This week, he was knocked out in straight sets in the second round of Queen’s by the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, and there is not a hair to be found on his face

Xavier Malisse is clean-shaven at the moment This is because the young Belgian only shaves if he loses. “I’m superstitious,” he says, “so when I’m winning, I let my beard grow.” This week, he was knocked out in straight sets in the second round of Queen’s by the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, and there is not a hair to be found on his face.
In normal circumstances, the defeat of an up-and-coming 20-year-old on his least favourite surface would barely warrant a mention But then these are not normal circumstances. For the first time since he burst on to the Wimbledon scene six years ago, the British favourite, Tim Henman, will not be flanked by his long-time coach and confidant, David Felgate. The two split in early April and, while Henman is intensifying his search for a suitable replacement, Felgate is entering his third month in partnership with Malisse.Results have been impressive since they started working together.

The Belgian reached the final at Atlanta, and his world ranking has climbed from the mid-80s to 56 in the latest ATP listings. Now Felgate’s first target ­ getting his player into the top 50 in time for the US Open ­ is likely to be reached two months ahead of schedule.Yet despite Malisse’s impressive progress, one topic continues to dominate any interview with him in this country. Forget the fact that he used to go out with Jennifer Capriati, the current Australian and French Open champion, what the English are really interested in is his latest working relationship.”I guess I knew this would happen,” Malisse says “But the attention doesn’t really bother me. People were always going to talk about what David achieved with Tim, but, so far as I’m concerned, that is in the past and all I’m focusing on is my own career.”There is no malice from Malisse when he says that he is not interested in Henman’s results. Felgate’s new prot? holds no grudges against his coach’s old star, it is just that he wants to build a reputation of his own.

“Tim’s a nice guy,” he says, “but it’s not like we talk all the time. He’s got his life and I’ve got mine.”Malisse is just one of Belgium’s impressive young crop, which includes the Rochus brothers, Olivier and Chris-tophe, Gilles Elseneer, as well as the high-flying women players Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, who played each other in the French Open semi-finals two weeks ago. The Belgians’ progress is all the more noteworthy because the country’s two federations, one Flemish and one French, have been at loggerheads for more than 20 years. Belgium has a population of just 10 million, no more than 6,000 courts, and an annual budget of £500,000, yet this tiny country somehow manages to produce world-class players.”He’s got some talent and you’re going to see a lot of him,” said Pete Sampras after beating the then 17-year-old Malisse in 1998. In the event, he failed to make the immediate leap from the junior to the senior tour. Malisse, who started playing at the age of five before progressing to Antwerp’s national centre of excellence and finishing his junior education at the Nick Bollettieri camp in Florida, now admits that he was not only struggling physically, but mentally as well.”I was immature at 16 or 17,” he says.