June 26, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 25,1424

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LONDON, June 25: Two of tennis’s gentlemen met on number one court on Wednesday, the venerable-looking Todd Martin beating three times former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten 7-6 6-4 6-4.

Martin, greying at the temples and looking older than his almost 33 years, used his long reach and grasscourt experience to down the 17th-seeded Brazilian, rarely allowing him to play his graceful all-court game.

The match was interrupted briefly after the first-set tiebreak because of rain and the Brazilian, who had not played a match on grass for nearly three years, never settled afterwards.

Martin, now ranked 102 in the world but a former number four, broke Kuerten’s serve in the third game of the second set and served it out with two booming aces.

He broke again in the ninth game of the third set and held his own to earn a place in the third round where he will meet meet German Rainer Schuettler.

Kuerten, who has been slowly returning to form after hip surgery last year, intends to take a month off to relax and practise before returning to the circuit.

Later American Andy Roddick burned Britain’s Greg Rusedski 7-6 7-6 7-5 in an explosive second round showdown.

The fifth seed kept his cool in the third to seal victory with his 14th ace and set up a third round tie against Spain’s Tommy Robredo.

Rusedski also served 14 aces and in the end the difference between the two players proved to be Roddick’s tiebreak mastery and Rusedski inability to hold his temper.

The Briton exploded in rage when Swedish umpire Lars Graff awarded Roddick a point for 40-15 when the American was serving at 2-5 in the third set.

Roddick won the game and then broke a by-now boiling Rusedski to love for 4-5. At the ensuing changeover Rusedski let rip at the Graff with a tirade of foul-mouthed abuse, saying the umpire should have warned the crowd and replayed the point.

After a break pointless first set, Roddick found the necessary inspiration to sneak 5-3 up in the tiebreak and then take the set with a neat double-fisted backhand across court.

But Rusedski, who has been hampered by foot, knee and neck injuries over the past year, did not wilt. The second set went the same way, although it did at least feature the first break point of the match — for Roddick at 5-4.

The American, who by now had touched 138 mph on serve, did not take his chance but ruthlessly dismantled Rusedski in the tiebreak, winning the first six points and taking it 7-1.

Rusedski immediately had to save break points at the start of the third but did so and then opened out a 3-0 lead after breaking Roddick for the first time.

But at 2-5 Rusedski lost his rag and in doing so his hopes of victory disappeared.

Venus in third round

Twice Wimbledon champion Venus Williams breezed through to the third round with a decisive 6-4 6-1 win over Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik.

Williams, elegantly attired in a tiara-like headband and a close-fitting dress laced up at the back, moved with agility across the court to dominate proceedings.

But she still lacks match sharpness on the grass surface she so loves and her current form has sparked speculation that she has lost her motivation for the gruelling grind of the tennis circuit.

Venus, winner of four grand slams but overshadowed in the last year by her younger sister Serena, is a notoriously slow starter and Wednesday proved to be no exception.

The Slovenian, who had never advanced beyond the first round before at Wimbledon, level-pegged to 3-3 before Williams effortlessly stepped up a gear to break in the seventh game.

Williams’s exquisite cross-court passing shots brought gasps of admiration from the Centre Court crowd, but her first serve kept letting her down on the blustery court.

But the Slovenian, ranked 42 in the world, crumbled in the second set when Williams went into overdrive. In the end, it took just over an hour for her to ease through to a smooth victory.

MENS SINGLES:

Second round Victor Hanescu bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-1 6-4; Flavio Saretta bt Agustin Calleri 6-4 6-7 (13-15) 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 10-8; Max Mirnyi bt Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2; Andy Roddick bt Greg Rusedski 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1) 7-5; Jonas Bjorkman bt Jurgen Melzer 6-4 6-2 2-6 6-3; Tommy Robredo bt Brian Vahaly 6-4 6-4 6-2; Feliciano Lopez bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Olivier Mutis 4-6 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 7-5; Todd Martin bt Gustavo Kuerten 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-4; Rafael Nadal-Parera bt Lee Childs 6-2 6-4 6-3; Roger Federer bt Stefan Koubek 7-5 6-1 6-1; Rainer Schuettler bt Fabrice Santoro 6-2 6-3 6-3; Mardy Fish bt Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4 6-4 6-1

Tuesday results:

Raemon Sluiter bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov 7-5 3-6 2-6 6-2 6-3; Wayne Arthurs bt Alberto Martin 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 7-6 (7-4);

First round Sebastien Grosjean bt Thomas Enqvist 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4); Lars Burgsmueller bt Albert Montanes 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-2

WOMENS SINGLES:

Francesca Schiavone bt Amanda Coetzer 4-6 7-5 6-4; Nadia Petrova bt Angelique Widjaja 7-6 (7-3) 6-3; Lindsay Davenport bt Rita Grande 6-3 6-1; Silvia Farina Elia bt Maureen Drake 7-6 (7-3) 6-1; Vera Zvonareva bt Conchita Martinez Granados 6-3 6-1; Venus Williams bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 6-1; Chanda Rubin bt Amy Frazier 6-4 6-4; Nathalie Dechy bt Daja Bedanova 6-2 6-4; Cara Black bt Denisa Chladkova 6-3 7-5; Ai Sugiyama bt Eva Fislova 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-5; Paola Suarez bt Magdalena Maleeva 2-6 6-2 6-3; Maja Matevzic bt Magui Serna 4-6 6-3; 6-4 Iroda Tulyaganova bt Petra Mandula 6-3 6-4.—Reuters