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by Prip The first featured match of the day drew the biggest crowds to the stadium so far, despite it being a working day. The crowds, mostly high school and university students on their summer break, thronged to see Anna Kournikova take on qualifier Elena Bovina. Anna came into the match knowing her opponent's strong points, and had her game plan set. With the wind causing a bit of trouble on one side of the court, the more experienced Russian managed to adjust a little better. The slightest lapse in concentration from Anna could have resulted in disaster, but she did well to keep focus, and came through 6-4 6-4. The next hurdle for her though would be the media. More than familiar with the ways of the press, Anna handled questions about rumours that her breakup with doubles partner Martina Hingis ended in tears very calmly, despite pretty much being asked the same question 9 times. Out on Court 1, Todd Martin was prepared but not looking forward to playing Tommy Haas. Todd, playing in his first tournament since marrying Amy Barbato, tried to play a smart game, but had few answers to the German 7th seed's performance. When he stayed on the baseline, he was run around the court silly, and when he came in, he got passed more often than not. Tommy's serve alone gave him more than enough free points. No surprises as Tommy Haas drove Todd Martin into frustration and cruised to a 6-3 6-2 win. Waiting for him in the next round is Rainer Schuttler who took out Slava Dosedel 6-3 3-6 6-3. Tommy should come through comfortably in that all-German affair. Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt was having problems. Drawn against fellow Aussie Wayne Arthurs for the second straight week, this time didn't prove as easy. Lleyton was having trouble returning the big serves being blasted at him from the Aussie, and only narrowly managed to escape a first round defeat in his to defend the title. Battling respiratory problems, Lleyton eventually took the tension-filled match 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-2. Magnus Norman came through comfortably against Romanian Andrei Pavel, winning 6-3 7-5 and coming one step closer to potentially meeting Hewitt in the final. Third seed Wayne Ferreira became the first major casualty of the men's draw, falling to Switzerland's Roger Federer, who's on a roll after claiming the Hopman Cup trophy with Martina Hingis last week. Ferreira's serve let him down and Federer managed to stay in focus well throughout the match instead of drifting in and out. Having gained confidence in being grouped together with the likes of Tommy Haas and Lleyton Hewitt in the ATP's new marketing scheme, "New Balls, Please" Roger played a mature game and took the match 6-3 6-4, setting a date with compatriot Marc Rosset, yet another match with players from the same country. Meanwhile, Bohdan Ulihrach became the first casualty for real, retiring at 6-1 3-0 against Frenchman Arnaud Clement. Ulihrach cited fatigue as his reason for failing to finish the match. In the very next match in the same court, fourth seed Cedric Pioline fell to Jonas Bjorkman 7-6(2) 6-2. The Frenchman, coming off a quarterfinal appearance the week before, couldn't break the stronghold Jonas has on him, and the Swede extended his win-loss record against him to 4-0. Qualifier Christophe Rochus managed to send Max "The Beast" Mirnyi packing with a quick 6-3 6-1 upset. Jeff Tarango, on the other hand, let the crowd get to him and simply made too many unforced errors against Todd Woodbridge. Pushing shot after shot long, at one point in the second set, he simply yelled to himself, "How can they be going so far out!!!" Frustration for the feisty American as wild card Woodbridge advanced in straight sets. The women's draw held no surprises, and Monica Seles dispatched Nicole Pratt 3-6 6-4 6-1, Nicole taking advantage of a rather cold start from Monica but not managing to pull off taking the match. Amelie Mauresmo also got through, defeating Anne Kremer 6-1 6-4 to take her one step closer to a repeat of last year's performance here. Conchita Martinez played Alicia Molik in a match that seemed to last forever and then some more, but eventually came through with a 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3 win. Slovenia's Tina Pisnik found her run ended by Kim Clijsters, leaving Brie Rippner to be the only qualifier left in the main draw. The most amusing match of the day must have been the doubles match between Italians Tathiana Garbin and Silvia Farina, and Conchita Martinez and Patricia Tarabini. The match had already been delayed by a day, and was suspended a total of 4 times due to rainfall. The players played most of the match in a light drizzle, but their on-court demeanour was enough to warm up the fans. Tathiana was her usual dynamic self on court, and had a very strong presence in her first doubles match in ages, while Silvia looked more calm and confident than usual, probably because she'd reached the final in the previous week. Patricia had all sorts of funny expressions going, reminding long-time tennis fans of the Argentine's entertaining on-court antics, while Conchita looked, well, like Conchita. In more doubles action, second seeds Kournikova and Schett won easily against Jelena Kostanic and Erika de Lone, hardly breaking a sweat in their 6-1 6-2 win. The highlight of the day though was the evening match, where Martina Hingis and Monica Seles took on Venus and Serena Williams. It is a rare occasion indeed when you see four Grand Slam singles winners on court at the same time, and they didn't fail to live up to the crowd's expectation. In a match that featured plenty of action and thrilling rallies, Martina and Monica came out the victors, winning 6-4 3-6 7-6(2). Women's Singles first round
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