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.