Third seed Norman falls to cocky Rochus

Third seed Norman falls to cocky Rochus
KADAMBARI MURALI

WIMBLEDON, JUNE 29: Court No 2 at the All-England Club enjoys the dubitable reputation of being known as the graveyard of seeds at The Championships. On a gloomy Wednesday here, while that morbid distinction did hold good, the other showcourts also decided to join in on the party. On Number One Court, 179-ranked Olivier Rochus, an unheralded 19-year-old qualifier from Belgium, at 5 feet, 4 inches, a full 12 inches shorter than third seed and French Open runner-up and World No 3 Magnus Norman, prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0 in an absolute thriller.

Rochus, incidentally, is the younger brother of the better known Christophe Rochus, a fact that led to lots of confusion in the commentator's box when it was seen that he may actually beat Norman.

In No 2, the usual burial ground, in the biggest shocker of the woman's singles here, Sonya Jeyaseelan, Canadian of Indo-Sri Lankan origin, ended the other French Open runner-up, Conchita Martinez's hopes of a repeat of her 1994 crown here.

On Centre Court, another former Wimbledon champ, Richard Krajicek, who had said earlier this week that he wanted to catch Holland in the Euro 2000 match against Italy, will be able to do so without problem now. South African Wayne Ferreira, who has a 2:3 record against the Dutchman, equalised with a 5-7 6-3 6-3 7-6 (3) win in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Krajicek will be returning immediately to Holland to catch the match. On Court 3, French sixth seed Cedric Pioline went down to another qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov, ranked 237 in the World. The Belarussian won 6-3 6-3 2-6 3-6 6-4. While he had 20 aces to Voltchkov's 12, Pioline also dished out 14 double faults and made just one passing winner. He said later he just ``didn't play well and that was it.

And again on Number One Court, the British masses lost their pin-up girl, when Russian Anna Kournikova fell to Ann-Gaelle Sidot in her quest for her first singles title. Sidot got her French revenge Kournikova had beaten French woman Sandrine Testud in the first round in little over an hour, winning 6-3 6-4.

This was a day of upsets and of controversy. If Ferreira sacrificed his racquet in anger over a crucial overrule against him, then flamboyant American Jeff Tarango went one better by not shaking hands with compatriot Paul Goldstein after the latter beat him. Ferreira was also warned again for using a four-letter word, but no action was taken. While Tarango is known to have a temper, he also refused to admit he was wrong this time.

``The overrule decision was interpreted in six different ways on Wednesday and really, it's my decision who I shake hands with, no one else's,'' Tarango said. He said he hadn't shaken hands twice before, once with Leander Paes in Shanghai (he said Leander hit him ``in the back with an overhead from three feet away'') and the second time with Uruguay's Marcelo Filippini during a French Open match for reportedly calling him names during it.

Women's top seed Martina Hingis had no problems, as she whipped China's Jing-Qian Yi 6-4, 6-1. Venus Williams, showing no sign of tendonitis, swept away another Asian. She beat Japanese Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-4.

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn however, ended former semi-finalist Natasha Zvereva's run with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Meanwhile, in the shortest match of the day, Serena Williams gave notice that she is back with a bang, becoming the first person to coast into the third round with a 6-1, 6-0 pasting of Dutch 23-year-old Yvette Basting in 35 minutes.

How the seeds fared
Men's singles (2nd round): 1-Pete Sampras (US) bt Karol Kucera (Svk) 7-6 (11/9) 3-6 6-3 6-4; Olivier Rochus (Bel) bt 3-Magnus Norman (Swe) 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-1; Vladimir Voltchkov (Blr) bt 6-Cedric Pioline (Fra) 6-3 6-3 2-6 3-6 6-4; 9-Thomas Enqvist (Swe) bt Francisco Clavet (Spa) 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (8/6) 7-5; Wayne Ferreira (RSA) bt 11-Richard Krajicek (Ned) 5-7 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7/3)

Women's singles (2nd round): 1-Martina Hingis (Swi) bt Jing-Qian Yi (Chn) 6-4 6-1; Sonya Jeyaseelan (Can) bt 4-Conchita Martinez (Spa) 6-4 6-1; 5-Venus Williams (US) bt Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-1 6-4; 8-Serena Williams (US) bt Yvette Basting (Ned) 6-1 6-0; 11-Anke Huber (Ger) bt Louise Latimer (GBR) 5-7 6-3 6-3

Men's singles: Gianluca Pozzi (Ita) bt Alex O'Brien (US) 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 6-4; Justin Gimelstob (US) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 6-4; Byron Black (Zim) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Svk) 6-3 7-5 6-2; Neville Godwin (RSA) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 7-5 6-4 6-3; Christian Vinck (Ger) bt Harel Levy (Isr) 6-4 7-6 (7/2) 7-5; Paul Goldstein (US) bt Jeff Tarango (US) 3-6 6-2 5-7 6-2 12-10; Jan-Michael Gambill (US) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-2; Albert Portas (Spa) bt Vince Spadea (US) 6-4 6-3 6-3; Younes El Aynaoui (Mar) bt Martin Lee (GBR) 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-2 6-2; Andrei Pavel (Rom) bt Daniel Nestor (Can) 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 4-6 6-0; Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Slava Dosedel (Cze) 6-4 6-3 6-0

Women's singles: Anne-Gaelle Sidot (Fra) bt Anna Kournikova (Rus) 6-3 6-4; Sabine Appelmans (Bel) bt Kristie Boogert (Ned) 7-5 3-6 9-7; Anna Smashnova (Isr) bt Katalin Marosi-Aracama (Hun) 6-2 5-7 6-2; Silvija Talaja (Cro) bt Mirjana Lucic (Cro) 6-2 6-2; Nathalie Dechy (Fra) bt Cara Black (Zim) 4-6 6-2 6-1; Lisa Raymond (US) bt Jana Kandarr (Ger) 6-2 6-1; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Natasha Zvereva (Blr) 6-1 6-3; Olga Barabanschikova (Blr) bt Nadejda Petrova (Rus) 6-4 2-6 6-4; Amy Frazier (US) bt Alicia Molik (Aus) 4-6 7-5 6-4; Cristina Torrens-Valero (Spa) bt Magdalena Grzybowska (Pol) 7-6 (8/6) 7-5; Tina Pisnik (Slo) bt Lubomira Bacheva (Bul) 6-2 6-1.