Defending champ ousted in Round I

Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic conjured up a magical performance on Monday to rewrite Wimbledon history by beating champion and top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the opening round of the grasscourt Grand Slam. The 6 foot 10 inch qualifier’s 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 win was one of the biggest shocks in the history of tennis and left Australian Hewitt as the first men’s champion since the sport turned professional in 1968 to stumble at the first hurdle.

Only once before in the tournament’s 126-year history, had a champion lost in the opening round. That was in 1967 when Manuel Santana lost to Charlie Pasarell.

While a reigning champion went out, two former titlists cruised through. Venus Williams, the 2000-2001 women’s champion seeded fourth, needed only 50 minutes to beat Stanislava Hrozenska 6-2, 6-2 and 1999 champ Lindsay Davenport, seeded fifth, defeated Australia’s Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

Roddick, seeded fifth, hit 14 aces and 21 service winners to beat Davide Sanguinetti 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. No. 9 Rainer Schuettler, No. 12 Paradorn Srichaphan and No. 16 Mikhail Youzhny also advanced. Among those eliminated were No. 31 Vince Spadea and No. 33 Nikolay Davydenko.(Reuters)