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Henin-Hardenne knocked out of Wimbledon
The first big shock at Wimbledon has come on day two with French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne knocked out in the first round.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:52 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
London:
The first big shock at Wimbledon has come on day two with French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne knocked out in the first round.
The 7th seed lost in three sets to Eleni Danili-dou from Greece. Henin a four time Grand Slam champion had only herself to blame. She was totally off colour with 11 double faults and 48 unforced errors.
Sharapova advances
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova opened her bid for a second successive Wimbledon title by beating Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2 6-2 today.
Sharapova unveiled shoes trimmed with 18-karat gold and displayed her familiar grass-court flair. She hit six aces, erased the only break point she faced and belted winners into both corners from the baseline.
On a sunny afternoon, with temperatures in the high 20s Celsius, Sharapova played the first match on Centre Court and was done in 58 minutes. She raced to a 3-0 lead in each set and won five consecutive games during one stretch.
Last year, at 17, she became the third-youngest singles champion - male or female - in the tournament's 118-year history.
Now she is seeded No. 2 behind Lindsay Davenport and listed by oddsmakers as the co-favourite, along with French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The customary postmatch handshake symbolised Sharapova's stature at the All England Club. At 6-foot, she stood a head taller than the 5-foot-1 1/2 Llagostera Vives.
Roddick advances
No. 2-seeded Andy Roddick also won easily, beating Jiri Vanek 6-1 7-6 (4) 6-2. Roddick, the runner-up to Roger Federer last year, hit 14 aces and advanced in 82 minutes.
Roddick, hitting serves at up to 227 kph, faced just one break point against Vanek and totaled 32 winners to just 12 unforced errors. It was Vanek's 11th consecutive first-round exit in a major event. (With AP inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
Andy Roddick
Lukas Dlouhy
Rohan Bopanna
Leander Paes
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi
Maria Sharapova
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