More misery for overwhelmed Hingis

The skies have been falling in on world number one Martina Hingis lately. First there was the disappointing loss to Steffi Graf in the final of the French Open and the controversy caused by her behaviour. Now, a first round loss at Wimbledon.

The player who caused perhaps the biggest upset of the year was a sixteen-year-old unknown named Jelena Dokic, last heard of in Birmingham where her disruptive father, Damir, was dragged from a main road by police and locked up. Yesterday, however, she completely outplayed the world number one to the point of humiliation, winning 6-2 6-0.

Fairy-tales and horror stories. The dad from hell and the little girl who scorched the grass on number one court.

It was indeed a day in the sun for the fearless Dokic, playing in only her fifth Grand Slam match, but there was certainly something going on behind the scenes in the Hingis camp. After the match Hingis revealed that her mother and coach Melanie had not attended the match. She wasn't even in the country. It was the first big game Hingis had played without her present. After Paris, where Hingis was tearfully led back to a jeering crowd by her mother, the 18-year-old was portrayed as the vulnerable child rather than the invulnerable world number one. Two weeks later, she was looking to cut some of the ties and, apparently, chose the number one court in the biggest tennis tournament in the world.

"I think it has been a great life so far. I mean I really like it and probably I need a break. I think I need time off," she said.

"Yes, a break would really suit me right now . . . from every thing." Later she pulled out of the doubles.

It was the first time her mother had not been at Wimbledon with her. "Yes, I guess that it made a difference. I want more independence in my decisions in the way I want to practise and things.

"For this tournament we decided to have a little bit of distance, probably work a bit more on our private lives and see how it's going to be in the future," said Hingis.

"At the beginning of the match I felt focused but at the end, in a way, I was away," she said.

It was only the third time in the history of the competition that a number one seed had lost in the first round. The last time was in 1994 when American Lori McNeil knocked out Steffi Graf. The junior world champion last year, Dokic progressed to the third round of this year's Australian Open with a wild card entry before being beaten 6-1, 6-2 by none other than Hingis.

"I still can't believe I've beaten Martina," she said. "I knew that if I gave her the chance she would come back so I just kept concentrating on every point."

Because of her age, Dokic is permitted to play in only 10 tournaments plus the four Grand Slams each year. But on yesterday's performance there appeared to be little rust in her game.

Reminiscent of a young Monica Seles, and like Seles also of Serbian background although living in Australia, her ground strokes were refreshingly without fear. The grunting sound effects on each wallop were also evident.

The early sign that the number one was not on form was when Dokic went 40-0 in the first two games as an uninspired Hingis struggled against Dokic's blistering back court game. By midway through the second set it was obvious to the crowd and Hingis herself, that winning the match was beyond her.

After such a flat response to the 16-year-old, Hingis may well be reminded of her put down of 30year-old former doubles partner Jana Novotna. Novotna, said Hingis, "was too old and too slow".