World order was restored yesterday: Steffi Graf won, Monica Seles won, Anna Kournikova won and Venus Williams won. A nice combination of the tennis spice girls and the grand old dames of the centre court all through. Martina Hingis has, of course, fled and taken her bad karma with her. No wonder the organisers are smiling again.
It was not, however, all plain sailing for the second seed. Steffi Graf was up to her shocking tricks, dropping the first set against South Africa's Mariaan de Swardt, before eventually winning 4-6 6-3 6-2 to advance to the third round.
"When I went out I didn't feel nervous," said Graf. "The way she was serving, though, there was nothing I could do. I was worrying more about what she was going to do than I was about my game. "I felt like a spectator at the beginning the way she was hitting the serves. By the second set I had a better idea of where they were going. But if she'd continued the way she started the match there would have been very little I could have done," she said.
In comparison, Graf's great rival Monica Seles had few problems. Keeping her head down and her nose clean, the industrious fourth seed didn't drop a game against Marlene Weingartner and coasted to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
Having made the quarter-finals here last year, Seles now has a third round clash with the unseeded Croatian player Mirjana Lucic.
Kournikova advanced after a 7-5 6-4 victory against Maria Alejandra Vento from Venezuela before being subjected to the now familiar grilling on her private life and the mind-state of Martina Hingis. Briefly, she was even asked about tennis.
"I felt I served well," she said. "I'm playing well and I just have to continue to try and play my game and be aggressive."
The Russian withdrew from the doubles competition when partner Hingis pulled out on Tuesday night after losing in the first round of the singles to qualifier Jelena Dokic.
Hingis cited a tendon problem in her foot as the reason, the first anyone had heard of it, including Kournikova. The partnership between the pair won the Australian Open title at the beginning of the year.
"I think she's just having pain and she's not ready to play," said Kournikova. The queen of attention-grabbing then acknowledged how hard it was to focus on tennis.
"It's really difficult. Nobody understands what we're going through unless they've been there. There is a lot of focus, a lot of everything on us. I just go out there to play and sometimes for some people it's too much."
Her equally young American colleague Venus Williams battered Elena Tatarkova in two sets 6-3 6-4 to set up a possible fourth round meeting with Kournikova. Williams, however, fell several times during the match.
"I didn't play my best tennis today but I played pretty satisfactorily. I feel comfortable with my height. You fall sometimes. I've no problems with my movement or flexibility," said Williams before showing her humorous side.
Asked whether she got a thrill from the fan with Venus scrawled across his stomach, the number six seed answered the question on the volley.
"I don't know if it's a thrill of a life time. Hopefully I will get a better thrill in my life."
Williams refused to respond to a comment made by Martina Navratilova on HBO television. The nine-time Wimbledon champion accused Williams's younger sister Serena of pulling out of the championships because she was afraid of meeting Venus in the fourth round.
"That is her matter of opinion," said Williams.
Meanwhile, the top names in women's tennis closed ranks around world number one Martina Hingis yesterday following her exit on Tuesday. Former teenage prodigy Jennifer Capriati said: "Who knows what she is feeling inside? When you're on top and everything's great, it's great. But as soon as there is one little thing that shows a little imperfection, the vultures can't wait to knock you down."
