Martina Hingis was nearly caught napping on a gloomy day at
Wimbledon before she woke up in the nick of time on Monday to beat
British wildcard Naomi Cavaday and reach the second round of the
grasscourt grand slam.
Hingis's Swiss compatriot, defending men's champion Roger
Federer stepped on court dressed like a player from a bygone era
but their was nothing old fashioned about his 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory
over Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.
Third seed Andy Roddick cursed his luck when he was drawn in the
same half as Federer but the American was in fine form on Monday
when he took the first steps towards a possible semi-final showdown
with the top seed. He fired 16 aces en route to a 6-1 7-5 7-6 win
over fellow American Justin Gimelstob.
A decade from her 1997 title triumph, Hingis seemed to have
forgotten her status as ninth seed and twice came within a point of
losing to a woman who had won only two tour matches in her
career.
In the end, Cavaday possessed neither the self belief nor the
energy to pull off the biggest win of her career and bowed out 6-7
7-5 6-0.
Hingis's chances of adding to her tally of five grand slam
crowns looked rather bleak when she faced two match points against
the 232-ranked Cavaday at 4-5 in the second set.
Cheered by a boisterous partisan crowd on court two, Cavaday's
nerves got the better of her when it mattered. She scooped the ball
into the net on her first match point and was outclassed by a
Hingis winner on the second.
Hingis initially appeared to bemused by her great escape but
then showed her ruthless streak, rolling over Cavaday in the
decider.
"It was never on my mind that I'm going to lose," said Hingis,
who missed the French Open through injury.
"I know court two is a graveyard of champions but I've never
lost there. I'm still in the draw. It's all that matters."
DISTRACTING CONDITIONS
Justine Henin and former champion Serena Williams overcame dank
and distracting conditions to progress.
French Open winner and top seed Henin began her bid to complete
her set of major trophies with 6-3 6-0 humbling of little-known
Argentine qualifier Jorgelina Cravero.
Williams proved equally unstoppable and shrugged off a hamstring
strain to overwhelm Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5 6-0.
Drizzle delayed the start of Federer's match by almost two
hours. Once he stepped on to a chilly and roofless Centre Court, he
seemed to be in a rush to slip back into his stylish new cream
blazer and trousers. He ended 86th-ranked Gabashvili's Wimbledon
debut in 93 clinical minutes.
Despite playing his first match on grass in 12 months, the world
number one signalled he was on course to match Swede Bjorn Borg's
five successive titles this year.
"I've got so much confidence, so much experience on this surface
that I always expect myself to play good matches on grass," Federer
said after recording his 49th consecutive win on grass. "That's
what happened today and hopefully the next match can be as
good."
As shadows crept over Centre Court, Tim Henman made home fans
run through the usual gamut of emotions before fading light forced
play off with the Briton locked at 5-5 in the fifth set against
former French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain.
(China Daily via Reuters June 26, 2007)
