Martina Hingis was nearly caught napping on a gloomy day at Wimbledon before she woke up in the nick of time on Monday to beat British wildcard Naomi Cavaday and reach the second round of the grasscourt grand slam.

Hingis's Swiss compatriot, defending men's champion Roger Federer stepped on court dressed like a player from a bygone era but their was nothing old fashioned about his 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

Third seed Andy Roddick cursed his luck when he was drawn in the same half as Federer but the American was in fine form on Monday when he took the first steps towards a possible semi-final showdown with the top seed. He fired 16 aces en route to a 6-1 7-5 7-6 win over fellow American Justin Gimelstob.

A decade from her 1997 title triumph, Hingis seemed to have forgotten her status as ninth seed and twice came within a point of losing to a woman who had won only two tour matches in her career.

In the end, Cavaday possessed neither the self belief nor the energy to pull off the biggest win of her career and bowed out 6-7 7-5 6-0.

Hingis's chances of adding to her tally of five grand slam crowns looked rather bleak when she faced two match points against the 232-ranked Cavaday at 4-5 in the second set.

Cheered by a boisterous partisan crowd on court two, Cavaday's nerves got the better of her when it mattered. She scooped the ball into the net on her first match point and was outclassed by a Hingis winner on the second.

Hingis initially appeared to bemused by her great escape but then showed her ruthless streak, rolling over Cavaday in the decider.

"It was never on my mind that I'm going to lose," said Hingis, who missed the French Open through injury.

"I know court two is a graveyard of champions but I've never lost there. I'm still in the draw. It's all that matters."

DISTRACTING CONDITIONS

Justine Henin and former champion Serena Williams overcame dank and distracting conditions to progress.

French Open winner and top seed Henin began her bid to complete her set of major trophies with 6-3 6-0 humbling of little-known Argentine qualifier Jorgelina Cravero.

Williams proved equally unstoppable and shrugged off a hamstring strain to overwhelm Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5 6-0.

Drizzle delayed the start of Federer's match by almost two hours. Once he stepped on to a chilly and roofless Centre Court, he seemed to be in a rush to slip back into his stylish new cream blazer and trousers. He ended 86th-ranked Gabashvili's Wimbledon debut in 93 clinical minutes.

Despite playing his first match on grass in 12 months, the world number one signalled he was on course to match Swede Bjorn Borg's five successive titles this year.

"I've got so much confidence, so much experience on this surface that I always expect myself to play good matches on grass," Federer said after recording his 49th consecutive win on grass. "That's what happened today and hopefully the next match can be as good."

As shadows crept over Centre Court, Tim Henman made home fans run through the usual gamut of emotions before fading light forced play off with the Briton locked at 5-5 in the fifth set against former French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain.

(China Daily via Reuters June 26, 2007)