Goran will always sing in the rain at Wimbledon

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) The day that the rain came down, Goran Ivanisevic knew that his days as Wimbledon's nearly man were over.

In a rain-interrupted semi-final that stretched over three days in 2001, British favourite Tim Henman had him on the ropes.

But the heavens saved the mercurial Croat who went on to become the first wildcard ever to win a grand slam tournament.

Returning to the scene of his greatest triumph and glancing up at the rain clouds swirling over Wimbledon, he said ''Rain can do good things like it did to me against Tim.

''But it can do confusion. You win, you stop, you come back.

But you have to try and stay calm.'' ''It was meant to be. This first rain stop against Tim was for some reason. After that I knew I was going to win,'' the charismatic left-hander told Reuters.

He is not a fan of Wimbledon's plans to build a retractable roof on the Centre Court.

''In 2009 they are bringing in the roof which I don't think is fair. They are going to play four matches. What about the other guys? They are not going to play.'' Midsummer in Britain, he argued, was all about the heavens opening.

''Rain is part of Wimbledon. You cannot escape rain. Rain or no rain, this is the biggest tournament,'' he said, leaning over the balcony looking at a host of matches hastily resumed on the outside courts after yet another rain break.

''You go play for half an hour, then you sit down for two hours and then you play half an hour. This is what makes Wimbledon special,'' he said.

Ivanisevic, back at Wimbledon to play in the veterans' doubles with Frenchman Cedric Pioline, is a man at peace with himself after being tortured by his tennis demons for so long.

A runner-up to Andre Agassi in 1992 and to Pete Sampras in 1994 and 1998, Ivanisevic said from the start in 2001 it was his fate finally to scoop tennis's most famous title.

His dream came true against Australian Pat Rafter on a Monday when the rain-hit tournament had to be carried into a third week.

After one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history, destiny's child reflected on how his game fell apart after the Sampras defeats and how his injured left shoulder finally recovered so he could fire down dozens of match-winning aces.

''I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't won. There would have been something missing in my career.'' Then, with a broad grin across his bearded face, he concluded: ''The rest of life is perfect.'' REUTERS SAM RAI0106