June 27, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 11, 1428

LONDON, June 26: Amelie Mauresmo performed her duties as defending champion with a minimum of fuss at Wimbledon on Tuesday, opening Centre Court proceedings on the traditional ‘Ladies’ Day’ with an assured defeat of American Jamea Jackson.

The 27-year-old French fourth seed swept to a 6-1, 6-3 victory with a few flashes of the flamboyant strokeplay that lifted her to victory over Justine Henin in last year's final.

Her place in the spotlight was quickly seized by Tim Henman as the golden boy of British tennis for more than a decade rolled back the years with an epic final-set shootout victory over Spanish 25th seed Carlos Moya.

The All England Club grounds were still buzzing long after the 32-year-old completed a remarkable 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11 victory. The match had resumed at 5-5 in the decider after bad light had left it hanging in the balance overnight.

While Henman and Moya provided an old-fashioned serve and volley dual, Moya's close friend Nadal followed them with a brutal show of power to beat American Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

Fresh from his hat-trick of titles at Roland Garros, topspin king Nadal proved again that he is a formidable foe on Wimbledon's silky lawns.

Mauresmo can only dream about the kind of domination Nadal enjoys at her home slam in Paris, but at least she appears to have found her natural habitat in south west London.

With a game not unlike Henman's classical grasscourt cut and thrust she was too good for the 20-year-old Jackson, the daughter of an NFL cornerback, never looking back after marching through the opening five games.

Jelena Jankovic continued her impressive form, the third seed and winner of the Edgbaston warm-up event, thrashing British wildcard Anne Keothavong 6-2, 6-0.

Tenth seed Daniela Hantuchova also progressed, dishing out a harsh lesson to Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, at 15 the youngest player in either singles draw. The Slovak won 6-0, 6-1.

James Blake, the men's ninth seed, joined compatriot Andy Roddick in the second round with an impressive 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over French Open quarter-finalist Igor Andreev.

However there were several American casualties in the men's draw, with Robert Kendrick, Kevin Kim, Vince Spadea and Bobby Reynolds all joining Fish out the exit door.

Russia's former world No 1 Marat Safin eased past South African Rik de Voest to stay on course for a juicy third-round clash with Roger Federer.

Justine Henin and former champion Serena Williams overcame dank and distracting conditions late on Monday to progress.

French Open winner and top seed Henin began her bid to complete her set of major trophies with 6-3, 6-0 humbling of little-known Argentine qualifier Jorgelina Cravero.

Williams proved equally unstoppable and shrugged off a hamstring strain to overwhelm Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-0.

Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

First round: 7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Nicolas Massu (Chile) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Mardy Fish (US) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; 29-Agustin Calleri (Argentina) beat Luis Horna (Peru) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; Wayne Arthurs (Australia) beat Thiemo De Bakker (Netherlands) 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-4; Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) beat Martin Vassallo Arguello (Argentina) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; 21-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) beat Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3; 24-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat Benjamin Becker (Germany) 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 10-8; Werner Eschauer (Austria) beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spain) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; 16-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Richard Bloomfield (Britain) 7-5, 6-3, 7-5; 23-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Mischa Zverev (Germany) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; 11-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Robert Kendrick (US) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; 19-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Fernando Vicente (Spain) 6-3, 6-1, 6-2; Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) beat Jamie Baker (Britain) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-3; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat Lu Yen-hsun (Taiwan) 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 – Lu Yen-hsun retired; 20-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Jan Hajek (Czech Republic) 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5; Tim Henman (Britain) beat 25-Carlos Moya (Spain) 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11; Nicolas Mahut (France) beat Arnaud Clement (France) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Joshua Goodall (Britain) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) beat Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 4-3 – Hernandez retired; Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) beat Kevin Kim (US) 2-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 9-James Blake (U.S.) beat Igor Andreev (Russia) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 15-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat Vincent Spadea (US) 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4); Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) beat Lee Childs (Britain) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); 26-Marat Safin (Russia) Rik de Voest (South Africa) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-5; Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat Marc Gicquel (France) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Bobby Reynolds (US) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; 12-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat 31-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 7-6 (10-8), 6-1, 6-2; Andrei Pavel (Romania) beat Juan Pablo Guzman (Argentina) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

Women’s singles:

First round: Agnes Szavay (Hungary) beat Eva Birnerova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-1; Alize Cornet (France) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-4, 6-4; Yvonne Meusburger (Austria) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-4, 7-5; Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) beat Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukraine) 6-4, 6-2; Hana Sromova (Czech Republic) beat Peng Shuai (China) 6-4, 6-4; Jarmila Gajdosova (Slovakia) beat Meghann Shaughnessy (US) 6-2, 6-4; 8-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat Angelique Kerber (Germany) 7-5, 6-3; 3-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Anne Keothavong (Britain) 6-2, 6-0; Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat 30-Olga Poutchkova (Russia) 6-1, 6-3; Olga Govortsova (Belarus) beat Greta Arn (Germany) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; Emilie Loit (France) beat Sun Tiantian (China) 6-3, 6-1 Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 5-7, 6-3, 8-6; 31-Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) beat Tzipora Obziler (Israel) 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1; 24-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Jill Craybas (US) 6-1, 6-2; Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5; Katie O’Brien (Britain) beat Sandra Kloesel (Germany) 6-3, 7-5; 19-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat Elena Baltacha (Britain) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2; 4-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Jamea Jackson (US) 6-1, 6-3; 27-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Nika Ozegovic (Croatia) beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) 6-3, 6-2; Milagros Sequera (Venezuela) beat Julia Schruff (Germany) 6-3 6-2; 10-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 6-0, 6-1.

Monday’s remaining results:

Men’s singles:

First round: 17-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Sergio Roitman (Argentina) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beat Alexander Peya (Austria) 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3; Tomas Zib (Czech Republic) beat Diego Hartfield (Argentina) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Michael Berrer (Germany) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Women’s singles:

First round: 18-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-3, 6-1; Vera Dushevina (Russia) beat Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 6-4, 7-5; 7-Serena Williams (US) beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) 7-5, 6-0; 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Jorgelina Cravero (Argentina) 6-3, 6-0; Alicia Molik (Australia) beat Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-3, 6-2; 15-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Camille Pin (France) 6-1, 4-6, 8-6.—Reuters