Yayuk and Tauziat race to easy wins at Wimbledon
Yayuk and Tauziat race to easy wins at Wimbledon
LONDON (Agencies): Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia and Nathalie Tauziat of France scored the first wins of the day as Wimbledon opened the gates and scheduled a full day's play on the first Sunday of the Championships for only the second time in the 120- year history of the event.
The last time there was play on the 'middle Sunday', traditionally a rest day, was in 1991.
The 26-year-old Yayuk, whose aggressive serve-and-volley tennis is well-suited to grass, chalked up a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Innes Gorrochategui of Argentina in just 45 minutes.
And seconds later, on another of the outside courts, the experienced 29-year-old Tauziat put out Kerry-Anne Guse of Australia 6-0, 6-3.
The speed of the results came as music to the ears of harassed tournament referee Alan Mills, who is trying to reduce an enormous backlog of unplayed matches after Thursday and Friday were rained off.
But as Yayuk and Tauziat came off court, thousands of fans, attracted to the All England Club for the special Sunday program and by the 'first-come first-served' ticket sales, were still waiting to enter the stadium and queues stretched for over a mile.
Surprise
One of the biggest surprise of the morning came when 20-year- old Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Japan's Naoko Sawamatsu while the eleventh-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez of the United States went through to the third-round by beating Aleksandra Olsza of Poland 6-4, 6-0
Big-serving Goran Ivanisevic fell victim to one of the most courageous displays in recent Wimbledon history on Saturday as tennis finally resurfaced at the rainswept All England Club after two blank days.
Ivanisevic, the second seed and twice a losing finalist, set a record for the number of aces in a match at Wimbledon but still sank to a remarkable 6-3 2-6 7-6 4-6 14-12 second round defeat against Sweden's Magnus Norman.
Norman beat world number one Pete Sampras at the recent French Open, but is also notable for forging a successful professional career despite a long-standing heart problem.
It turned out to be a hectic day for the first-aid staff with defending champion Richard Krajicek and Briton's Greg Rusedski both riding their luck to reach the third round.
The fourth-seeded Krajicek won 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-3 against Andrei Pavel of Rumania, but was trailing by a set and 3-2 when his opponent required lengthy treatment on a wrist injury.
Rusedski outlasted American Jonathan Stark 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-3 11- 9 in a contest which contained plenty of needle and also saw Rusedski receive a warning for time wasting.
In the women's singles, Monica Seles faces an anxious wait after her second round match against 20-year-old American Kristina Brandi was halted with her opponent leading 7-5 1-3.
World number one Martina Hingis coasted into round three but 16-year-old Russian Anna Kournikova had to fight for her life against Germany's Barbara Rittner.
Rittner led by a set and 5-1, only for Kournikova to battle back and take a second set tiebreak 9-7 before winning the last 6-3.
But the much-heralded 17-year-old American Venus Williams was brought back to earth when she lost her first-round match to 91st-ranked Magdalena Grzybowska of Poland 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The tournament's other newcomer Anna Kournikova looked as though she too was about to fail a tough grass court test when she trailed 4-6, 1-5 against Germany's Barbara Rittner in a second-round clash.
However, the 16-year-old from Moscow showed that she is not just a pretty face but also a fast learner. She turned the tables on the 1991 junior Wimbledon champion to score a 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 win.