Federer's reign delayed by rain at Wimbledon

~ Nadal, the French Open champion, won his match Thursday.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Now Roger Federer has a taste of what Rafael Nadal and plenty of others have been going through at this wettest of Wimbledons.

Off for nearly a week, four-time reigning champion Federer finally returned to the court Thursday for his quarterfinal against 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. After 37 minutes and less than a set, drizzles forced them to stop -- and more than three hours later, everyone was sent home for the day.

"Unfortunately," came the evening announcement over loudspeakers around the All England Club, "the rain in the air and the fading light mean that it's now unrealistic for us to resume."

What's still not entirely clear is how realistic it is that Wimbledon will finish by Sunday, although organizers are optimistic about the singles tournaments. That's because all remaining men's fourth-round matches were completed Thursday -- with No. 2 Nadal, No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 7 Tomas Berdych and No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis winning -- as were the two remaining women's quarterfinals -- with three-time champion Venus Williams and No. 6 Ana Ivanovic advancing.

"Consequently, we should be able to finish the singles ... on time," tournament referee Andrew Jarrett said at day's end.

Still, the schedule already is a jumble, thanks to rain on nine of the grass-court Grand Slam's 10 days. Today's forecast calls for more showers.

The women's semifinals -- Williams vs. Ivanovic, and No. 1 Justine Henin vs. No. 18 Marion Bartoli -- are slated for today, a day later than usual. The men's quarterfinals also are on today's program, two days later than they were supposed to be. And instead of the women's final getting its customary moment in the spotlight as the only singles match Saturday, it will share the day with the men's semifinals.

Weather permitting, of course.

"It's boring, I guess. That's the way it is," said Baghdatis, a 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist who beat No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3. "We have to find a way to get through. That's life. That's what I did."

No one has had it worse, or complained aloud more, than 2006 runner-up Nadal and Djokovic, who would be forced to play on seven consecutive days if either made it to a Sunday men's final.

Both played third-round matches that stretched from Monday to Wednesday, both were back out there for the fourth round Thursday, and both won again.

Djokovic defeated 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (5), then renewed an earlier complaint that the tournament took the traditional day off on the middle Sunday.

"Even though they knew the conditions were really bad, they knew the conditions were going to be bad, they didn't play on Sunday, which is not understandable for me and the other players," he said.

Three-time French Open champion Nadal dug himself a two-set deficit against No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny before coming all the way back for a 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

"After the first two sets, the next three sets, maybe I played my best game on grass in my life," Nadal said.