June 26, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 10, 1428

LONDON, June 25: Martina Hingis was nearly caught napping on a gloomy day at Wimbledon before she woke up in the nick of time to reach the second round of the grasscourt Grand Slam.

A decade from her 1997 title triumph, Hingis seemed to have forgotten her status as ninth seed and twice came within a point of losing to a woman who had won only two tour matches in her career.

In the end, British wildcard Naomi Cavaday possessed neither the self belief nor the energy to pull off the biggest win of her career and bowed out 6-7, 7-5, 6-0.

Hingis's Swiss compatriot, defending men's champion Roger Federer, chose a more straightforward route into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

Third seed Andy Roddick cursed his luck when he was drawn in the same half as Federer but the American was in fine form on Monday when he took the first steps towards a possible semi-final showdown with the top seed. He fired 16 aces en route to a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 win over fellow American Justin Gimelstob.

Drizzle delayed the start of Federer's match by almost two hours.

Once he managed to step on to a chilly and roofless Centre Court, he seemed to be in a rush to slip back into his stylish new cream blazer and trousers and ended Gabashvili's Wimbledon debut in 93 clinical minutes.

Despite playing his first match on grass in 12 months, the world number one provided enough evidence to suggest he was on course to match Swede Bjorn Borg's five successive titles this year.

“I've got so much confidence, so much experience on this surface that I always expect myself to play good matches on grass,” said Federer. “That's what happened today and hopefully the next match can be as good.”

Hingis's chances of adding to her tally of five grand slam crowns looked rather bleak when she faced two match points against the 232-ranked Cavaday at 5-4 in the second set.

Cheered by a boisterous partisan crowd on court two, Cavaday's nerves got the better of her when it mattered. She scooped the ball into the net on her first match point and was outclassed by a Hingis winner on the second.

Hingis initially appeared to be bemused by her great escape but then showed her ruthless streak, rolling over Cavaday in the decider.

Australian Open runner-up and fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez survived a first set hiccup to overcome Robby Ginepri 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Monday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

First round: Florent Serra (France) beat 27-Philipp Kohlschreiber

(Germany) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-4; 5-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Robby Ginepri (US) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-2; 3-Andy Roddick (US) beat Justin Gimelstob (US) 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); 13-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Zack Fleishman (US) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) beat Sam Querrey (US) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

First round: 20-Sybille Bammer (Austria) beat Varvara Lepchenko

(Uzbekistan) 6-2, 6-2; 9-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Naomi Cavaday (Britain) 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, 6-0; Aiko Nakamura (Japan) beat Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 7-5, 6-2; 16-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 7-5, 6-2; Laura Granville (US) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 25-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) 7-5, 6-2; Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-2, 6-1; Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat Tatjana Malek (Germany) 6-1, 6-4.—Reuters