Mixed fortunes for the Aussies at Wimbledon

Mark Philippoussis’ tournament ended overnight but Lleyton Hewitt’s tilt at a second Wimbledon crown got off to the perfect start with an easy straight sets victory over Italian Filippo Volandri.

In a match delayed by 24 hours due to persistent rain on Monday, the 2002 champion wasted no time in moving through to the second round, disposing of the 56th-ranked Volandri 6-1 6-1 6-3 in an hour and nine minutes.

Backing up just a day after outlasting No.32 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, Philippoussis again fought gamely but this time couldn’t overcome world no. 53 Max Mirnyi, losing in four tight sets.

The big-serving Victorian, granted a wildcard by Wimbledon officials, met his match in the tall Belarussian, ranked 157 places higher. Mirnyi captured the first two sets, but stumbled in the third, as Philippoussis recovered from 1-3 down in the tiebreaker to send the contest into a fourth set.

Hopes were high for another Aussie comeback triumph, however, Mirnyi settled and broke the Scud in the eight game on the way to victory in three and a quarter hours.

Earlier, a ruthless Hewitt immediately put Volandri on the back foot, breaking serve in the fourth and sixth games, before capturing the first set in just 18 minutes. Coming off a fourth Queen’s Club title last week, the South Australian looked in ominous touch, stroking the ball confidently off both sides and finding the mark with an amazing 80% of first serves.

The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first, with the Italian again losing five consecutive games as Hewitt took a stranglehold on the contest with a variety of ripping forehands, pinpoint backhands and deft volleys.

Volandri, who looked to be struggling with a knee ailment, finally knuckled down in the last set as Hewitt’s game dipped slightly, but three unforced errors at 3-4 would prove costly, the sixth seed breaking before going on to serve out the match with his 12th ace.

Hewitt will now meet Korean Hyung-Taik Lee in the second round.

Australia’s top female player, Sam Stosur, also advanced, comfortably accounting for the Netherland’s Michaella Krajicek 7-5 6-3. She will be joined in the second round by compatriot Nicole Pratt, who upset Slovak Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-3.

Stosur began well in her match, breaking Krajicek in the third game before the 17-year-old step sister of former Wimbledon champion Richard, fought back to level at 5-5. However, the Dutchwoman tightened up while serving to stay in the set, double-faulting on break point to concede Stosur the early advantage.

The Australian had an easier time of it in the second set, securing her first singles win at the All-England club and setting up a difficult clash with top-seed Amelie Mauresmo. Veteran Pratt now faces French 29th seed Tatiana Golovin for a place in the third round.

Meanwhile, most of the men’s favourites progressed through to the third round, with world no. one Roger Federer making light work of crowd favourite Tim Henman, while Davide Nalbandian barely raised a sweat in beating experienced Frenchman Arnaud Clement in straight sets.

Swiss maestro Federer conceded just six games as he consigned Englishman Henman to another year of Wimbledon disappointment, and he was almost matched by 2002 finalist Nalbandian, who advanced to the final 32 in style with a 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory.

Third seed Andy Roddick dropped the first set against Janko Tipsarevic and appeared in danger of losing another, but his big serve came to the fore when it counted and he moved through to the second round 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.

Croatians Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic, along with American James Blake and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis were other seeds to win through, with Russian ninth seed Nikolay Davydenko the only notable casualty, a four-set loser to Colombian Alejandro Falla.

In the women’s draw, all the major contenders progressed with ridiculous ease, once again emphasising the disparity of talent in the women’s game.

Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, Martina Hingis and Justine Henin-Hardenne conceded a total of nine games between the five of them, while Kim Clijsters did not even make it onto court, handed a walkover into the third round by Ukranian Viktoria Kutuzova.

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