Hingis beaten by qualifier Dokic in first round

Meanwhile the myth about Leander Paes and grasscourt tennis should be conveniently cast aside. The self-professed grass-courter once again failed to win a singles match here as he went down to qualifier Andre Sa of Brazil in straight sets 6-4 6-4 7-6 4 here on Monday.

Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez Vicario proved once again she is the comeback queen of women8217;s tennis when she beat Hungarian debutante Anna Maria Foldenyi 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the first round.

The Barcelona baseline specialist, who has twice been toppled by Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon final, was sadly out of sorts in a bludgeoning battle against a young opponent who refused to be overawed on her first Wimbledon appearance.

Dokic, world junior champion last year, broke Hingis twice in the first set and then looked in a class of her own for the rest of the match.

She made the Swiss star look like a novice, running her around the court and smashing winners past her at will, before completing the sensational shock victory in just 54 minutes.

Hingis, 18, and Wimbledon champion in 1997, looked bewildered and out-of-sorts. She has not played a singles tournament since the French Open at the beginning of the month where she was heavily criticised for her petulant behaviour when losing the final to Graf.

She last lost in the first round of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1995. The last time a Wimbledon top seed was beaten in the opening round was when Graf lost to Lori McNeil in 1994.

Also to make the second round was 11th seed Barbara Schett who beat Spain8217;s Gala Leon Garcia 7-5 6-2.

Meanwhile Paes, who flew in to London late Sunday night after the doubles final at Rosemalen in the Netherlands, never really got into rhythm today.

All credit, however, to the Brazilian who played just an inspired game to effectively puncture so many holes in Paes8217; patented chip and charge game that even an elephant could walk through it.

There was not even one instance when Paes was not passed when came to the net. Such was the power of Sa8217;s passing shots that the Indian had to stay back, hit far too many rallies that he would have liked to and then work himself into a point.

Watched by a largely Indian crowd which included Rahul Dravid, the crown prince of Indian cricket, Paes8217; inadequacies from the back of the court, was once again brought into the fore rather embarassingly by a qualifier whose groundstrokes were simply overwhelming. Sadly, the 26-year-old Indian couldn8217;t even get one shot past the Brazilian and Sa, at times, even outvolleyed the Indian. That also raises doubts whether Paes8217; volleys are as sharp as they have been.

The opening game was itself a pointer for the things to come as Paes struggled to hold serve as it went to two dueces before he just about managed to hold on. Then came the third game which Paes lost, but in the eighth came back roaring to level the set. He had three break points at 0-40 but Sa took him to deuce before Paes got the break. In the very next, two double faults did him in and the slide soon began.

Sa held his serve with ease because the pressure was all on Paes to try and stay with him in the match. Again, the fifth game of the second set, a double fault saw Paes go down a break point and a stunning forehand pass on the run by Sa when Paes kept the return short sealed the break.

In the third and final set, Paes injected some interest, all of them artificial, when he broke the Brazilian while serving for the match. In the tie-breaker, Paes8217; body language was so poor that Sa just stayed put and the win just came his way.

On hindsight, Paes8217;s decision not to play any singles in his build-up to Wimbledon seemed rather inexplicable. But then, the energies were all directed toward doubles. He has achieved that, but such singles matches were always there for the taking.