LONDON, June 24: Her tumbling tears now a fading memory, Serena Williams faced the world with a serene smile and flexed her grasscourt muscles on Tuesday to open her Wimbledon defence in solid fashion.
The top seed, left heartbroken and sobbing by an acrimonious loss to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semi-finals of the French Open earlier this month, restored the ‘Williams World Order’ on grass with a 6-3 6-3 win over compatriot Jill Craybas.
“I must say I was a bit nervous today,” she said. “I don’t know why. But once the first few games were over I kind of got into the groove a little better.”
Andre Agassi was quickly into his groove and steadied the men’s draw following champion Lleyton Hewitt’s scarcely credible defeat to qualifier Ivo Karlovic on day one.
The 33-year-old world number one worked his way past British wildcard Jamie Delgado 6-4 6-0 5-7 6-4.
Tim Henman gave his “Henman Hillbillies” something to cheer about although he had his own moments on court one.
The Briton’s laboured 6-2 7-6 3-6 6-1 victory over Czech lucky loser Tomas Zib will hardly strike fear into the hearts of the leading contenders here, however.
Prior to Serena Wiliams’s Parisian setback and the emotional meltdown it triggered, the 21-year-old had won four straight grand slams, beating elder sister Venus in each final.
While Tuesday’s victory was hardly a whitewash, the 58-minute win was a firm statement that Serena is still the woman to beat.
In Paris, Serena had been goaded by the crowd and accused her opponent Henin-Hardenne of “lying and fabricating”.
On Monday she put the entire episode behind her. that the issue had helped humanise her for many fans.
Eleventh seed Jelena Dokic survived a scare against Britain’s Elena Baltacha before creeping through 6-3 1-6 6-4.
The blonde, currently playing under the Yugoslav flag, has struggled since splitting with her father Damir as her coach but recovered her composure in the third set to beat the 149th-ranked Baltacha.
In the men’s draw Argentine seventh seed Guillermo Coria was not so fortunate. The claycourter failed to make the same impression on grass that he has on the dusty surface this season when he was beaten 7-5 7-6 6-3 by Olivier Rochus in the first round.
Fellow Argentine David Nalbandian, a surprise finalist in the men’s singles last year and sixth seed this time around, had a better day with a workmanlike 7-5 6-4 6-2 victory over chunky Belarussian baseliner Vladimir Voltchkov.
Men’s singles:
Monday’s results: Todd Martin bt Fernando Vicente 6-7 6-4 2-6 7-6 6-4; Juergen Melzer bt Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6); Jonas Bjorkman bt Petr Luxa 6-3 7-6 6-2; Sjeng Schalken bt Arvind Parmar 6-3 6-4 6-1
Tuesday’s result: Takao Suzuki bt Dick Norman 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3); Sargis Sargsian bt Alex Bogdanovic 6-1 6-3 6-2; Stefano Galvani bt Julien Boutter 6-3 2-6 1-6 6-2 8-6; Alexander Popp bt Hicham Arazi 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; Robin Soderling bt Martin Verkerk 6-3 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-2 6-1 6-3; James Blake bt Todd Larkham 6-3 6-1 6-1; Jiri Novak bt Luis Horna 3-6 7-6 6-1 6-1; Michael Llodra bt David Sanchez 6-3 6-4 6-7; (8-10) 6-3; Andre Sa bt Mariano Puerta 6-2 3-2 retired; Andre Agassi bt Jamie Delgado 6-4 6-0 5-7 6-4; Tim Henman bt Tomas Zib 6-2 7-6 (13-11) 3-6 6-1; Younes El Aynaoui bt Mark Hilton 6-3 6-2 6-4; David Ferrer bt Martin Lee 1-6 6-3 6-1 6-2; Anthony Dupuis bt Richard Bloomfield 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-3; Arnaud Clement bt Robby Ginepri 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (3-7) 10-8; Karol Kucera bt Wayne Ferreira 6-1 6-2 6-4; Nicolas Massu bt Zeljko Krajan 6-1 6-1 6-1; David Nalbandian bt Vladimir Voltchkov 7-5 6-4 6-2; Scott Draper bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 6-4; Gilles Elseneer bt Nicolas Keifer 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4; Radek Stepanek bt Michal Mertinak 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4; Mark Philippoussis bt Mariano Zabaleta 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-2; Olivier Rochus bt Guillermo Coria 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-3; Cyril Saulnier bt Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-3 6-2. Wesley Moodie bt Marc Rosset 6-4 6-4 6-4; Jarkko Nieminem bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-3; Nicolas Escude bt Konstantinos Economidis 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-5); Frederic Niemeyer bt Felix Mantilla 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-6 (7-3)
WOMEN’S SINGLE:
Monday’s results: Maja Matevzic bt Tina Pisnik 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 6-4; Katarina Srebotnik bt Anne Keothavong 6-2 4-0 retired; Magui Serna bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3 7-5; Daniela Hantuchova bt Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-1; Iroda Tulyaganova bt Carly Gullickson 7-5 6-4
Tuesday’s results: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Julia Vakulenko 7-5 6-1; Lisa Raymond bt Stephanie Foretz 6-3 6-3; Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian bt Marissa Irvin 7-5 2-6 8-6; Maria Elena Camerin bt Lilia Osterloh 6-1 6-4; Jennifer Capriati bt Myriam Casanova 6-1 6-3; Eleni Daniilidou bt Jelena Kostanic 6-2 6-2; Maria Sharapova bt Ashley Harkleroad 6-2 6-1; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Bea Bielik 6-1 6-3; Emilie Loit bt Alexandra Stevenson 7-5 7-6 (7-2); Arantxa Parra bt Zuzana Ondraskova 7-5 6-2; Lina Krasnoroutskaya bt Julie Pullin (Britain) 6-3 6-1; Karolina Sprem bt Iveta Benesova 6-2 7-6 (8-6); Anastasia Myskina bt Henrieta Nagyova 6-4 3-0 retired; Els Callens bt Barbara Rittner 6-3 7-5; Tatiana Perebiynis bt Barbora Strycova 6-4 5-7 11-9; Emmanuelle Gagliardi bt Stephanie Cohen Aloro 6-2 4-6 6-3; Martina Sucha bt Gala Leon Garcia 6-2 4-6 6-1; Serena Williams bt Jill Craybas 6-3 6-3; Jelena Dokic bt Elena Baltacha 6-3 1-6 6-4; Elena Likhovtseva bt Lindsay Lee-Waters 4-6 6-2 8-6; Alicia Molik bt Dinara Safina 6-1 4-6 6-4; Akiko Morigami bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-4 6-3; Aniko Kapros bt Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3 6-2; Laura Granville bt Alina Jidkova 6-1 6-4; Elena Dementieva bt Angelika Roesch 6-2 6-1.—Reuters
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