It146;s Euromania over Henmania at Wimbledon

With Euro 2004 captivating football fans in this corner of the world, the tennis players at Wimbledon can8217;t escape, feeling the pride a...

With Euro 2004 captivating football fans in this corner of the world, the tennis players at Wimbledon can8217;t escape, feeling the pride and pain as they follow their respective teams. And it8217;s not just the European players getting involved.

As Tim Henman smarted from England8217;s quarter-final heartbreak at the hands of Portugal, so too did Americans Serena Willams and Andy Roddick who adopted David Beckham8217;s men.

Williams described Swiss referee Urs Meier8217;s decision to disallow Sol Campbell8217;s goal as 8216;8216;total robbery8217;8217;. 8216;8216;What am I going to do now? I8217;m not going to watch any more,8217;8217; she said. 8216;8216;Obviously, I don8217;t want Portugal to win. I was really disappointed.8217;8217;

The women8217;s top seed also had something to say about Beckham8217;s miss in the penalty shootout. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know what it is about David Beckham and kicking,8217;8217; she said. 8216;8216;I mean, he8217;s doing much better than what I would ever do. But it8217;s just 8212; I just was disappointed.8217;8217;

Roddick admitted to 8216;8216;jumping up and down8217;8217; and 8216;8216;going crazy8217;8217; during the nail-biting match. 8216;8216;I think it8217;s unreal how almost a whole country can stop and just really support their team. I don8217;t know if I8217;ve seen something like that in the States before.8217;8217;

8216;8216;The only thing I can think of that kind of measures up is the Super Bowl, where everybody is somewhere watching it. But lots of times it8217;s not their teams involved, so maybe it8217;s not as intense.8217;8217;

Henman, who beat Swiss Ivo Heuberger in the second round, said: 8216;8216;Swiss referees. Swiss opponent today. Had to make sure I got some revenge.8217;8217;

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Asked by a Portuguese journalist to rate the hosts8217; performance in the match, Henman smiled: 8216;8216;You were pretty lucky. Is that honest enough?8217;8217; He added, referring to the terribly worn penalty spot in the Lisbon quarter-final: 8216;8216;They could get some better turf as well, that would be helpful.8217;8217;

But one tennis player still smiling about football was Australia8217;s Mark Philippoussis. With no Australian representation in Portugal, the answer for Philippoussis was easy when he was asked whether he too had taken to supporting England. 8216;8216;It was tough watching, but I wouldn8217;t say I adopted them, no, I8217;m Australian,8217;8217; Philippoussis said. 8216;8216;But I tell you what, that Greek blood in me, I8217;m going for Greece.8217;8217;