Henman struggled early (Getty Images).
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Tim Henman's frustration was plain to see, and hear, as he scraped past
Spanish debutant Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the first round at Wimbledon.
A line judge reported Henman to the umpire for swearing at the start of the
fourth set as the fifth seed looked anything but a serious contender for the
title.
Ramirez Hidalgo had never set foot on a grass court until two days ago but
took the opening set 6-4 against the four-time semi-finalist.
The 26-year-old from Alicante, without a single win in any Grand Slam event,
was then only denied taking the second set tie-break by a fortunate Henman
return which hit the line, before the British number one levelled the match.
Henman then took the next two sets 6-4 6-2 to complete a nerve-wracking
victory in just over three hours. Champion Serena Williams fretted through 65 minutes of uncertainty before
starting a successful defence of her women's title against China's Jie Zheng
on Centre Court.
A 6-3 6-1 win looks a comfortable stroll on paper, but Williams - aiming to
complete a hat-trick of crowns just nine months after a left knee operation -
struggled through a cluster of unforced errors and needed her awesome forehand
and serving power to cover the cracks in her game against a battling opponent
who often matched her for craft and technique.
Elsewhere Richard Bloomfield joined the growing list of British men to suffer an
opening-round Wimbledon exit after going down in straight sets to Feliciano
Lopez
More than 500 world ranking places separated the two players and it showed
with the Spanish 18th seed encountering few problems dismantling Bloomfield with
his powerful serve proving particularly effective.
Bloomfield showed courage throughout, particularly in the third set when he
held his own serve until the 11th game, but that was not enough to prevent him
collapsing to a 6-4 6-2 7-5 defeat.
Maverick Russian 19th seed Marat Safin was a shock casualty after losing to compatriot Dmitry Tursunov.
Safin took the opening set and looked to be cruising to victory before Tursunov turned the match on its head.
He levelled up by taking set two 7-5, and never looked back after that as he smashed down 18 aces.
Safin looked jaded and hit 39 unforced errors in the match before eventually going down 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-7 (7/1).
The moody Russian later claimed he would never play at Wimbledon again.
The former US Open champion, who lost to Roger Federer in the final of the
Australian Open in January, said: "I give up on Wimbledon. It's definitely not
the tournament for me.
"I hate this. I have to admit it. I try to be serious. I came here one week
before and I was practising quite a lot. I spend a lot of time on the courts." Carlos Moya finally saw off Olivier Patience after a match that spanned two days.
Rain delays on Monday meant the match was carried over, yet clay specialist Moya kept his composure to close out impressively.
Moya, seeded nine this year but with no realistic chance of winning the title, was never behind in the match.
Frenchman Patience gave it his all, but eventually capitulated as Moya did the business in the deciding set to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-7 (6/8) 6-1.
Mark Philippoussis crushed Belgian foe Christophe Rochus in straight sets.
'The Scud', last year's beaten finalist and seeded 11 this year, was just too powerful for his diminutive opponent.
Philippoussis hit 22 aces in the match as he came through 6-3 6-4 6-2.
Mardy Fish blasted Spain's Ivan Navarro Pastor to defeat.
The American, seeded 14 this year, was into his stride early on and took the first set 6-3.
He took the next as well, booming down some impressive serves as Navarro Pastor looked on helplessly.
In the third set, Fish began to dominate around the net, and eventually prevailed 6-3 6-2 6-3.
Wayne Ferreira's record 55th consecutive Grand Slam began on a high note when
he won his first-round match.
Ferreira broke Stefan Edberg's record for most consecutive appearances at
Grand Slams when he took the court against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, and after
losing the first set fought back to win 5-7 7-6 7-5 6-2.
Women's sixth seed Elena Dementieva was stunned in three sets by Sandra Kleinova.
The Russian looked strangely out of sorts throughout the match, allowing her Czech opponent to register a 6-4 1-6 6-4 victory.
Dementieva, a finalist at the recent French Open where she was beaten by compatriot Anastasia Myskina, hit 11 double faults in the match and never looked comfortable.
Chanda Rubin was another seeded casualty on day two as Marion Bartoli beat her in straight sets.
Rubin, who reached the fourth round back in 2002 and who was seeded 17 this year, never really recovered after losing a tight opening set on a tie-break.
Bartoli visibly grew in confidence after that, and eventually came through 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.
Former world number five Daniela Hantuchova proved she had the stomach for the
fight with a battling straight-sets victory over Samantha Reeves.
Unseeded Hantuchova, a quarter-finalist at the All England Club two years ago,
secured a 6-1 6-4 win on court three.
She will next meet 20th seed Elena Bovina, who dispatched Romanian qualifier
Edina Gallovits 6-1 6-2.
Nadia Petrova was given a real fright by Italy's Flavia Pennetta before advancing.
Petrova, seeded 10, won the opening set 6-3 but fell apart in the next as her Italian opponent upped the pace.
Pennetta promtly levelled up to take the match into a decider.
Petrova made 22 unforced errors but eventually held on to come through 6-3 2-6 6-4.
Unfancied Virginie Razzano dumped out Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova hit 12 aces in the match, but was ultimately outlasted by her plucky Italian foe, who hit no less than 38 winners.
Razzano won the opening set on a tense tie-break, only to see Kuznetsova level up in the next.
Yet rather than go into her shell, Razzano sucked it up to emerge as a 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-4 winner.
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