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 Seeds safe on Wimbledon's second day
Posted: Tuesday June 23, 1998 08:20 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Defending champion Martina Hingis weathered the challenge of American Lisa Raymond, and twice runner-up Jana Novotna made short work of her lowly-ranked Czech rival on a rain-splattered second day at Wimbledon Tuesday. Hingis, who last year became the youngest player in the Open era to win the Wimbledon singles title at 16 years, nine months and five days, started gingerly but benefited from a 90-minute rain break to dispose of Raymond 7-5 6-3. Novotna, the form grass-court player leading into the tournament following her success in Eastbourne last week, was less troubled by her first-round opponent Sandra Kleinova who managed to take only four games off the third seed. The weather called most of the shots on a typically fickle June day in London, play starting some 40 minutes behind schedule on the show courts and nearly three hours late on the outside courts. Only 11 of the 64 matches scheduled were completed as the players spent most of the day in the locker-room. Fourth-seed Greg Rusedski, who has been struggling with an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago at the warmup Queen's tournament, was in deep trouble when rain finally called a halt to play. The Canadian-born Briton took the first set against Australian qualifier Mark Draper, but lost the second and was down a break at 5-4 in the third when the covers were pulled back on in the fading evening light. Draper's compatriots, U.S. Open champion Pat Rafter, and last year's semifinalist Todd Woodbridge managed to successfully complete their matches, while 1996 champion Richard Krajicek was comfortably placed at 6-3 7-6 against New Zealander Brett Steven. Raymond, ranked 19 in the world, was one of only five players to beat Hingis last year and must have rued her missed chances when her Swiss rival looked decidedly nervous early in the match. The American broke Hingis's serve but still lost the opening set, which took 52 minutes, and probably would have preferred to carry on when the skies darkened overhead and the pair were called from the court. In the break Hingis was able re-evaluate her tactics and looked more like last year's champion when she came out the second time around. Starting at 2-1 up after the break, the Swiss prodigy took barely 20 minutes to finish off her rival.
"It was very tough first round for sure," said the 17-year-old Hingis. "When you open your defense at Wimbledon you don't really want to play the number 19 in the world who you lost to last time. I would rather have easier matches. "I had to give everything to just get through the first round." Novotna, who wears an abdominal support as the legacy of an injury suffered in the semifinals here last year, took only 71 minutes to dispose of Kleinova in a match which became a clash of the walking wounded. Kleinova played on after treatment for a knee injury sustained after slipping on the damp grass in the second game and was grateful for the chance to get some more treatment when play was stopped due to the weather. But the interruption did not help her as last year's losing finalist came out with all guns blazing, finishing off Kleinova in a matter of minutes. Seventh-seed Venus Williams, who has high expectations at Wimbledon after reaching at least the last 16 in her last three Grand Slams, entered unexplored territory by beating Canada's Jana Nejedly 6-3 6-3. It was the American teenager's first victory on the famed Wimbledon grass courts after she was eliminated in the first round last year. Rusedski, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, was clearly feeling the effects of his ankle injury and gave up the chase on several occasions when the point was still there for the taking. His lethal service weapon, which has been clocked at a world record 149 mph, misfired badly. He double-faulted 18 times, and was even out-aced by 238th ranked opponent who only came to England to watch his brother Scott and then found himself in the main draw after advancing through the qualifiers. Rafter, a natural grass-court player, beat Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland 6-1 6-2 4-6 6-1 to carry on from where he left off last week in the Netherlands where he won the Den Bosch title. "If I can keep the way I'm thinking and the mindset I'm in, and I know I can do that because I feel so good, then there's no reason why I can't get into the second week." Rafter said.
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