| | Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England -- The Williams sisters surged into the
third round of Wimbledon with one-sided victories, while
1994 champion Conchita Martinez was upset Wednesday.
|  | | Serena Williams lost only 17 points in her rout of Dutch qualifier Yvette Basting. |
Martinez, the fourth-seeded Spaniard who was runner-up at the
French Open earlier this month, was eliminated 6-4, 6-1 by
79th-ranked Canadian Sonja Jeyaseelan.
Meanwhile, Anna Kournikova, the 19-year-old Russian
diva who has been the overwhelming focus of media attention, fell
6-3, 6-4 to France's Anne-Gaelle Sidot.
But top-seeded Martina Hingis cruised into the third round
with a 6-4, 6-1 Centre Court victory over Yi Jingqian of China. Yi,
ranked No. 78, pushed Hingis to the limit in the first set but
couldn't maintain the pressure in the second.
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Smashnova hits fan with ball
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Anna Smashnova is lucky to still be
playing at Wimbledon.
Upset by the cheering of her opponent's husband, Smashnova hit a
ball in his direction, instead hitting a woman spectator in the
stands. The woman was in tears but uninjured.
Tournament referee Alan Mills decided not to default Smashnova -- who won the match against Hungary's Katalin Marosi-Aracama 6-2,
5-7, 6-2 -- but said the Israeli would be fined. The amount will be
decided later.
"There is not a hard-and-fast rule that a player is
automatically defaulted if they hit a ball that strikes an on-court
official or spectator," Mills said. "Although hit hard, the ball
hit a fence, bounced and then hit a spectator causing no injury."
Smashnova, 23, offered a tearful apology. "I am so sorry," she said. "I meant to hit the ball into the
fence but it went over and hit a woman who was 15 meters away. I
had been upset by laughing and shouting form Katalin's husband. He
kept cheering for her when I made mistakes. I didn't mean to hit anyone, I was just so angry."
But Aracama was not satisfied. "Wimbledon should be ashamed that it did not disqualify her
from the tournament," he said. "I think it seems to want to
protect the top players." -- AP
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Kournikova, a semifinalist in 1997, was unseeded because of
injuries that have limited her schedule. The 28th-ranked Sidot, who
had not advanced past the first round at Wimbledon since 1996,
served an ace down the middle on match point.
Venus and Serena Williams have also been plagued by injuries this
year, but they established themselves as serious contenders for the
women's title with impressive straight-sets wins.
Serena, seeded No. 8, needed just 35 minutes to rout Dutch
qualifier Yvette Basting 6-1, 6-0. She then raced over to Court 1 to watch fifth-seeded Venus
dispatch Japan's 20th-ranked Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 5
minutes.
Both sisters displayed dominant grass-court games, hitting big
serves and moving up to net for putaway volleys to complement their
stinging groundstrokes.
"It's something we want to do the whole time because we have
such large serves that when the ball is floating, it's much easier
to end the point than go get in the rally again," Venus said.
"Hopefully, this will be a change."
Serena Williams served nine aces and volleyed sharply against an
opponent ranked 187th in the world. Basting, in the Wimbledon main
draw for the first time, looked helpless and won only 17 points.
Williams' only lapse came when she double-faulted at 40-0 love
on match point. She promptly hit an ace on the next point, then
skipped to the net, blowing kisses to the crowd.
"I played better, coming to the net more, closing out the
points," she said. "Overall, I definitely improved from the first
round. But I haven't reached my peak yet."
The 18-year-old Serena is playing in her first tournament since
being sidelined in April with tendinitis in her left knee. She
reached the third round of Wimbledon in 1998 but made her
breakthrough by winning the U.S. Open last year.
"I was popping the serve today," she said. "It was amazing.
Sometimes I had to pinch myself. That's how it was at the Open. I
love to pop 'em like that."
Noting that she won the U.S. Open after a similar injury layoff,
Serena Williams said there was no reason she couldn't do the same
here.
"My No. 1 goal is to win Wimbledon now," she said. "Grass
suits my game. I have an overall game. I think this is the surface
for me."
Conchita Martinez, on the other hand, is considered more of a clay-court specialist, despite
winning the Wimbledon title six years ago. She was outmatched by
Jeyaseelan, who had never advanced past the second round at
Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old Canadian is no stranger to upsets. Last year, as
a qualifier ranked No. 140, she beat Venus Williams at Amelia
Island, Fla.
"I was shocked, actually, how easy it was for me," Jeyaseelan
said. "I notice some balls she didn't seem to run down as much. But it's grass and it's faster."
By late Wednesday, seven women's and seven men's seeds -- out of 32 overall -- had been eliminated after less than three full days of play.
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