Sampras, Safin, Serena cruise

Ossian Shine

Top seed Pete Sampras, hunting a record eighth men's singles crown, eased into the second round at sun-baked Wimbledon on Monday by beating Spain's Francisco Clavet 6-4, 7-6, 6-4.

He was joined by local hero Tim Henman, the sixth seed, who satisfied the home crowd with a crushing 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Russian qualifier Artem Derepasko.

Fourth seed Marat Safin also advanced, beating Austria's Julian Knowle 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 despite playing patchily for much of the last three sets.

But 12th seed Jan-Michael Gambill went out at the first hurdle to fellow American Chris Woodruff, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 on court 18 where a ballgirl collapsed with heat exhaustion during the second set.

In the women's draw fifth seed Serena Williams lost just one game on the way to the second round but 19th seed Conchita Martinez, Wimbledon champion in 1994, was made to struggle by Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic before winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

American Williams crushed Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis 6-1, 6-0 while Bulgarian 12th seed Magdalena Maleeva thrashed Argentine Clarisa Fernandez 6-0, 6-2.

Jennifer Capriati made a comfortable start to her pursuit of the third leg of the Grand Slam, beating Maria Alejandra Vento 6-3, 6-2.

The fourth-seeded American, already the French and Australian Open champion this year, needed just 59 minutes to beat Venezuelan Vento, ranked 110 in the world.

Capriati, who became the youngest Wimbledon semifinalist in 1991 when she was 15, started shakily, dropping her serve to 15 in the opening game on centre court.

But the American, helped by poor serving from Vento, broke for 3-3 and broke again in the eighth game to take control of the match.

"ALWAYS A PLEASURE"

Sampras, 29, showed too much grass court expertise for veteran claycourter Clavet on Centre Court where temperatures soared above 30 degrees celsius.

A single break of serve was enough to secure Sampras the first set and he edged out Clavet 7-5 in a tiebreak to take the second although the Spaniard, ranked 56 in the world, bitterly disputed a line call on the decisive point.

Unconcerned, top seed Sampras earned a single break at 5-4 in the third set to book a second-round match against British wild card entrant Barry Cowan.

The holder of a record 13 Grand Slam singles titles, Sampras has won here in seven of the last eight years and victory this year would also see him equal Bjorn Borg's record of five consecutive titles.

"It's always a pleasure playing out there, I love the court," said Sampras.

Henman, twice a semifinalist and bidding to become the first British champion in the men's singles since Fred Perry in 1936, produced a solid all-round display to win in 78 minutes.

Derepasko, ranked 272 in the world and playing only his second senior tournament, broke Henman's serve in the third game of the match but after that failed to trouble his opponent on Henman's favourite grass court surface.

Henman sealed victory on his first match point with an ace down the middle and plays either compatriot Martin Lee or Italian Gianluca Pozzi in the second round.

"I'm pleased ? the first round of any tournament is sometimes not the easiest match. As the scoreline suggests, I was really happy with the performance," the Briton said.

Three-times runner-up Goran Ivanisevic also booked a second round place, the wildcard entrant showing he is not here just to make up the numbers.

Ivanisevic's ranking has gone into free-fall due to a shoulder injury but he dispatched Swedish qualifier Fredrik Jonsson 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. "I am much more relaxed ? I don't have the pressure like the old days," he said.

SHOULDER INJURY

Williams was the first player into the second round when she demolished Kuti Kis.

The American matched the weather at the All England Club by blazing past an opponent who has yet to win a match at Wimbledon in three attempts in 40 minutes on court two.

The 1999 U.S. Open champion and a semifinalist here last year, was in scorching form and said she felt immediately at home on Wimbledon's lawns.

"It feels great. I was walking out there on the court today and to be on the green lush grass in a white dress I felt at home. It felt special," she said.

She broke in the second and fourth games of the opening set, streaking to a 5-0 lead before Kuti Kis could register on the scoreboard. Williams emphatically closed out the opener after just 18 minutes, crunching her fifth ace past the left-hander.

The blonde Hungarian's head soon dropped as Williams refused to ease up, and she raced through the second set 6-0 to set up a second round meeting with Barbara Rittner after just 40 minutes.