Upset as Hantuchova is sent crashing

Wimbledon Championships: Daniela Hantuchova - the ninth seed - departed Wimbledon last night after an astonishing match with Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

In the first major shock of the women's draw, Hantuchova finally bowed out 0-6, 6-4, 12-10, after two hours and 46 minutes, the third set alone lasting 104 minutes.

Hantuchova, however, appeared to be in turmoil throughout the latter stages of the match, yelling out in Slovakian towards her mother and coach in the crowd and, on a number of occasions, she appeared to be crying.

The 20-year-old has come under incredible scrutiny over the last four
weeks because of her declining weight and frail physique. Repeatedly, the ninth seed has had to defend herself from suggestions that her weight has become a problem she can no longer control.

The defeat yesterday to someone ranked over 70 places below her is likely
to put further pressure on the young player, who is one of the most talented in the world.

On her debut last year, Hantuchova became only the fifth player to win a
WTA singles event at their first attempt. Having won the first set 6-0 against Asagoe, it appeared the status quo would prevail and Hantuchova would hurry through to the third round with a two-set win.

However. the 26-year-old fought her way back to take the second set 6-4. But few could have predicted how long the third set would last as tension on both sides rose, with neither player able to conjure the sequence of points to close out the match.

It being the third and final set of the match a deciding tie-break was not
an option.

Hantuchova was clearly unable to control her emotions and, as her eyes watered over, she looked like a lost figure staring into the distance during change overs and was barely holding herself together.

In the end, it was to prove costly. Hantuchova saw three match-points come
and go, while Asagoe needed only one - hitting an ace wide of the backhand
that had up until then made the Slovakian one of the most lethal players on the circuit.

For most of the first set of Venus Williams' second round match against
Katarina Srebotnik, it looked like her father Richard's journey had been a
waste of time. Papa Williams, who dislikes travelling, allowed his girls go to the French Open alone , and look what happened. Serena left in tears and Venus was booed off court as she slumped out to Russian Vera Zvonareva in the first round.

Dad's view is the girls may have been slacking in Paris. It is he who drives them hardest and while Venus looked rusty, untidy, rushed and unsure of herself for the first half hour, she would have considerably soothed his nerves with her second set demolition of the 22-year-old.

After a 6-4 first set where one break of serve gave Williams the edge, the
fourth seed pulled her game together in the second set to wallop the Slovakian 6-1, breaking her serve three times.

"I'm feeling good. Really what I have to do is soak myself in ice to make
sure nothing flares up. I'm definitely feeling good about my game and myself," she said.

"I understood how she would come out and play me, give it her all and go
for broke. I've played her before. "I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself to win a title, but I know I have the talent to do it. No, there is nothing to fear on the tennis court."

Second seed Kim Clijsters stepped up her bid for the title with a ruthless
6-0 6-3 win over France's Virginie Razzano in the second round.

Clijsters sealed the win with a dainty backhand drop shot after 56 minutes
to set up a third-round meeting with Samantha Reeves.