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Tough start for Henman
Defending champion Serena Williams eased into the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday while Tim Henman, widely tipped to end Britain's 68-year wait for a men's winner, struggled to keep his campaign on track against a grasscourt rookie. The organizers, meanwhile, were coping with a more traditional rival as heavy rain brought an early finish to proceedings leaving 46 matches in the men's and women's first round still to be completed. However, the miserable weather came too late to save two of Russia's hopes Marat Safin and Elena Dementieva, who picked the wrong time to fall to defeat in front of ex-president Boris Yeltsin, who was in the bleachers. Serena, the top seed and chasing a third successive title, brushed past Zheng Jie of China 6-3, 6-1 to set up a second round clash against Stephanie Foretz of France. It was a comfortable return to the All England Club for the American whose last Grand Slam success was here last year after which she underwent knee surgery and was on the sidelines until March this year. Since then she has blown hot and cold failing to get past the quarter-finals at the French Open last month where she lost to Jennifer Capriati. "I am playing good. Coming in to the net a lot and usually you don't hear me saying I am playing good," said Williams. "It didn't take me time to adapt to the grass. Some things I had been working on in practice and I wanted to try them out on court today." Henman, the fifth seed and four-time semi-finalist, survived a real scare on Court One before clinching a 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-2 win over Spanish grass-court debutant Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo. "I got frustrated at times out there on the court. There were some positive aspects and a few I was struggling with and I was spending too much time thinking about the negatives," said Henman. "On reflection, I didn't play my best today but Paris (twice two sets down at French Open before winning) was a good example of where I was in a worse position than I was today. "Those type of matches you can draw confidence from, because I found a way to get myself out of trouble." While Henman was celebrating his safe passage, there was gloom for former world No 1 and US Open champion Safin, the 19th seed, and women's sixth seed Dementieva, the French Open runner-up. In front of the watching Yeltsin, Safin, a quarter-finalist here in 2001, went down to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) defeat in 2hr 32min to compatriot Dimitry Tursunov. Safin was so despondent that he said he would never play here again. "I give up on Wimbledon. It's not the tournament for me. I hate this," he said. Also having problems with the surface was third-seeded Guillermo Coria of Arentina whose match with Wesley Moodie of South Africa was pushed into a third day with the tie level two sets all and Coria serving for the match at 5-3. Dementieva, who broke down in tears after her Roland Garros loss to countrywoman Anastasia Myskina three weeks ago, was left equally depressed by her 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 setback against Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia continued her return to health and happiness after a gruelling 2003 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over America's Samantha Reeves to wipe away the bitter memories of her last visit to the All England Club. When the 21-year-old from Bratislava lost a marathon second round match against Shinobu Asagoe here on 2003, she dissolved into floods of tears as she was questioned again and again about her skeletal figure. But on Tuesday, she was a picture of health finding her range with her armoury of groundstrokes to brush past the American and set up a second round encounter with Russian 20th seed Elena Bovina. American men also enjoyed a winning start on Tuesday with 15th seed Mardy Fish taking a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Spain's Ivan Navarro Pastor while Jan-Michael Gambill put out Max Mirnyi, the 23rd seed from Belarus, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Last year's runner-up Mark Philippoussis of Australia, seeded 11, saw off Belgium's Christophe Rochus 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, while Spanish ninth seed Carlos Moya needed five sets to beat French qualifier Olivier Patience 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1. |
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