Cowan gives Sampras a scare

Ossian Shine

The American 'A Team' dominated Wimbledon's lawns on Wednesday but leader of the pack Pete Sampras wobbled badly before getting back on track for a record eighth singles crown.

The defending champion and holder of a record 13 Grand Slam titles allowed British wildcard Barry Cowan to come back from two sets down before he ground out a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3 victory as dusk fell on court one.

"That's as close as it is going to get," Sampras said. "From the middle of the third to the start of the fifth he just basically outplayed me. It was definitely a major test."

Jennifer Capriati was far more convincing as she kept her sights firmly fixed on a third straight Grand Slam crown with a 6-3, 6-1 second round victory over Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

Capriati's powerful display was matched by compatriot Andy Roddick who lived up to his pre-tournament billing when he made his Centre Court debut, thrilling the crowd in a 7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 defeat of 11th seed Thomas Johansson.

Fifth women's seed Serena Williams also motored into the last 32 of the women's draw with a 6-4, 6-0 demolition of Germany's Barbara Rittner.

But her father Richard was not impressed, saying she and elder sister Venus - the women's champion - were still just "joking around".

NO JOKING

There was no joking on court one where Cowan, ranked 265th in the world, won the third set tiebreak 7-5 against Sampras.

The Briton then, astonishingly, drew level at two sets all as Sampras suddenly looked vulnerable. The champion raced to 4-0 lead in the fifth set but he allowed Cowan to break back before closing out the victory in two hours 52 minutes.

Sampras had not been taken to five sets at Wimbledon since he won the 1998 final against Goran Ivanisevic.

"As soon as I walked off court I was disappointed but I guess the more I reflect and think about the match I've got to be pleased the way I handled myself out there," Cowan said.

Capriati, with Australian and French Open titles safely tucked away this year, took just 58 minutes to win with a heady mix of explosive groundstrokes and dazzling speed across court.

She is looking to become only the third player behind Margaret Court and Steffi Graf to win all four Grand Slam titles in a calendar year.

"My desire has gotten greater - I like the taste of success," Capriati warned.

Flamboyant Roddick, cited by Sampras and Andre Agassi as the future of American tennis, ended Johansson's 11-game winning streak on grass with a power-packed display of serving and forehand drives.

AVID FANS

"It was a really good feeling, I got goosebumps when I was walking out," he said of his Centre Court debut.

"There were some avid fans that really got behind me. It was great atmosphere for me to play in."

Roddick set up a third-round clash with fellow big-server Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia.

Ivanisevic, three times a losing finalist in the 1990s, beat former world number one Carlos Moya of Spain 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and is hugely enjoying what is almost certainly his last Wimbledon campaign.

"He is young and upcoming and I'm old and going," he said of Roddick. "He's going to be the future of tennis."

Williams's power game was hardly helped by the cooler conditions over London following the heatwave of the opening two days but she continued her easy ride after a 6-0, 6-1 first round win.

She blamed a lack of tough opposition for her semifinal loss to elder sister Venus last year but insisted it would not be a problem this time around.

"I had too many easy matches last year," she said on Wednesday. "When I got a tough match, I just went ballistic. I missed a great opportunity.

FEEL COMFORTABLE

"(This year) there's nothing to worry about - I feel comfortable. You learn a lot from every experience." Father Richard, however, walked out midway through the second set.

Briton Greg Rusedski also advanced, crushing Zimbabwe's Byron Black 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

Rusedski next plays Spanish eighth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero who continued to impress with his new-found grasscourt skills.

The claycourter had never won a match on the slick surface before this week but beat former semifinalist Jason Stoltenberg 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

Women's eighth seed Justine Henin recovered from a set and 3-0 down to record a battling victory over Dutch qualifier Kristie Boogert while Virginia Ruano Pascual's moment of Wimbledon glory came to an abrupt end when she was beaten 6-3, 7-6 by Russian teenager Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

Spaniard Ruano Pascual, a doubles specialist and baseliner who knocked out Hingis on the opening day, came unstuck against the 17-year-old Krasnoroutskaya who led a clutch of Russian women into the third round.