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 Wimbledon Notebook Serena one-ups sister Venus with 1st-round win
Posted: Monday June 22, 1998 10:30 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- In her Wimbledon debut, Serena Williams did what her sister couldn't: get a victory. Venus lost in her debut last year. But on Monday, 16-year-old kid sister Serena reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italian veteran Laura Golarsa. Golarsa can play well on grass, and once came within two points of upsetting Chris Evert at Wimbledon. But that was nine years ago, and although Golarsa made a match of it, she was no match for the power of the young American "I was a little nervous at first and went a little crazy," said Williams, after a match watched by her sister. "But now I'm past the first round I'll be able to move on. But I think I should have won easier." Williams said she had little time to do any Wimbledon tourism -- but planned to. And she said she wasn't wild about Wimbledon's famed strawberries and cream. "I haven't been able to see much of the atmosphere, but I want to do the museum before my next match," she said. "I had the strawberries and cream in France. Here it seems like strawberries and milk. The cream is too thin. It's not like whipped cream. It's like milk and I don't like milk at all." Big, blank screenThe All England Club probably had the only giant-screen television in the country that wasn't tuned Monday to the soccer World Cup in France. Romania beat England 2-1 Monday in Toulouse, but Wimbledon officials declined requests to show the crucial match on a giant screen situated in the practice area near Court No. 1. "While we thoroughly appreciate and understand that many of our visitors will be interested in the World Cup, the tennis must remain our first priority," said chief executive Chris Gorringe. In the wake of riots in Marseille just over a week ago involving English hooligans, Gorringe also cited a safety reason. "There is a saftey issue, the question of thousands on the terrace. And what of a penalty shootout at 10:30, 10:45 at night in the darkness? We're not geared for that." The World Cup ends July 12 with England among the favorites to reach at least the quarterfinals. Miss anonymousLindsay Davenport is seeded No. 2 at Wimbledon, but you'd never know it. She's Miss Anonymous. "I'm pretty much used to it now," Davenport said Monday after a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 first-round victory over former world junior champion Florencia Labat of Argentina. "It's tough, but it doesn't really bother me. I'm just going out there and trying to play well and try not to worry about what is going on in the media." Much of the pre-Wimbledon attention has focused on veterans Steffi Graf and Monica Seles and teen stars like Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, who withdrew Monday with a thumb injury, and sisters Venus and Serena Williams. "The younger players have definitely made a name for themselves and they love doing all the media stuff and getting the attention," Davenport said. Strawberry lineThere's no shortage of strawberries at Wimbledon, and no price increase either. Again, a cup filled with seven or eight berries and a dollop of cream sells for 1.85 pounds ($3.05). Officials have ordered 24 tons of strawberries for the fortnight. The healthy alternative of yogurt and strawberries costs more -- 2.85 pounds ($4.70). Pete in jeopardyHow's this for pressure? Four-time champion Pete Sampras will lose his No. 1 ATP Tour ranking if he fails to reach the Wimbledon final. Sampras, who was ranked No. 1 for 102 straight weeks before briefly falling to No. 2 behind Marcelo Rios this spring, could lose his No. 1 to six possible players -- Rios, Petr Korda, Carlos Moya, Greg Rusedski, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Patrick Rafter. Sampras on Monday beat Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. The last defending champion to lose in the first round was Maunuel Santana in 1967. Let, AndreAndre Agassi is dead set against a proposal under consideration by the International Tennis Federation to do away with the let rule. "If you play [lets], I think you're just throwing in a whole other element," he said. "It just seems so random, almost somewhat lucky." "A lot of times in crucial serves you'll see a let. Sometimes a couple of them in a row. I don't think they should ever play it. I think that's ludicrous... It would be a horrific change in the game." The rule change will be debated in July at the ITF's annual general meeting in Ireland and could be voted on before the year is over. Designed to speed play, the rule would mean no replay of serves which catch the tape before going over. Odds and ends: Sixteen-year-old Croatian Mirjana Lucic -- playing her first Wimbledon -- is just getting over a case of chicken pox that kept her out of the French Open. ... No woman seeded below No. 4 has won Wimbledon since the Open era began in 1968. ...The Americans topped the men's singles field with 16 entries, with Spain next with 12. ... The United States leads the women's singles field with 17 entries. ... Asked why he played in long sleeves on a mostly sunny day, Agassi cracked, "You don't have to wear as much sunscreen."
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Serena Williams was a little nervous, but came away with a victory in her Wimbledon debut match 