Big guns roll into third round

Ossian Shine

Wimbledon's big guns blasted all before them on Thursday, rolling menacingly into the third round of the $12 million grass Grand Slam.

Men's heavyweights Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov dented British pride, demolishing a pair of home wildcards, while women's champion Venus Williams and third seed Lindsay Davenport were offered little resistance.

Teenage typhoons Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic also blitzed bewildered opponents but Clijsters' boyfriend, Australian fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt, had to bunker down in the face of Taylor Dent's howitzer serve before winning 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

Another Australian, third seed Pat Rafter, who was last year's losing men's finalist, dropped a set before beating Czech Slava Dosedel 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the last 32.

Barry Cowan's five-set heroics against defending champion Pete Sampras on Wednesday night had the All England Club crowds dreaming of a British upset.

But second seed Agassi and Kafelnikov, seeded seventh, had other ideas once play started after an early shower.

Agassi was imperious on Centre Court and never gave the crowd a chance to get behind wildcard Jamie Delgado, beating the 24-year-old 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

"Somebody has to lose - somebody has to win," Agassi said. "If I start finding my range out there, confidence comes quickly."

Russian former world number one Kafelnikov dropped the first set against another wildcard, Arvind Parmar, but from then on was just as convincing, romping home 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

BASELINE BATTLE

Williams, accused by her father Richard of "joking around" at Wimbledon, was still not back to her awesome best but she had far too much power for Slovak teenager Daniela Hantuchova.

The match was interrupted for an hour by a heavy shower but by then Williams had the necessary break of serve in the second set and she was not troubled once the match resumed. "I think sometimes I'm just a little bit off my shots," she said.

Women's 1999 champion Davenport powered past Australia's Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-2 in a brutal baseline battle.

"I felt pretty good out there," she said. "I'm getting into the flow. I've been very focused and very calm so far."

She next plays either Switzerland's Patty Schnyder or German Jana Kandarr in the last 32.

Belgian Clijsters, a French Open runner-up earlier this month, swept aside Canadian Maureen Drake 6-3, 6-1 while Dokic crushed American Jennifer Hopkins 6-2, 6-4.

Agassi, champion here in 1992, was facing his first British opponent in 11 Wimbledon appearances.

And unlike compatriot Sampras, who was pushed all the way by Cowan, the execution took just 88 minutes with Agassi dominating from the start on Centre Court.

He started the first set with an ace and was ruthlessly efficient, breaking Delgado in the sixth and eighth games to establish his supremacy.

In the second set, Delgado's serve crumbled in the 10th game against the 1992 Wimbledon champion. In the third set, he saved four match points at 5-2 but Agassi then swiftly dispatched him.

"As one-sided as the match appeared on paper, I think those that are the most experienced go out there with a tremendous amount of respect for what has to be done - because at the end of the day you have to execute to win," Agassi said.

Agassi will play either Brazil's Fernando Meligeni or Chilean Nicolas Massu in the next round.

SILENCED

Kafelnikov recovered from losing the first set out on court two to silence Parmar's supporters.

The Russian served two double faults and netted a simple backhand volley on Parmar's second set point to gift the world number 211 the first set tiebreak 7-5.

But the Russian - a former Australian and French Open champion - hit back by breaking in the seventh and ninth games of the second set to level.

Parmar, who saved a matchpoint in a five-set first round win over Andre Sa of Brazil, failed to convert three break points at 1-1 in the third set and from there Kafelnikov never looked back.

He plays either Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark or Guillermo Canas of Argentina for a place in the last 16.

"I think I was quite a bit nervous at the start and I think he played far above his standard," the Russian said after a short rainbreak delayed the beginning of the match.

"But then I settled down and never really felt in danger. When you are playing a five-set match you can play yourself into it."

DEVASTATING FORM

Both Clijsters and Yugoslav 14th seed Dokic were in devastating form. The Belgian seventh seed warned that she hadn't played her best tennis, though.

"I played good enough - but I didn't play my best," Clijsters said. "Still I am pretty happy with the way it went."

10th men's seed Thomas Enqvist brushed aside France's Stephane Huet 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 and in the women's draw 16th seed Silvia Farina Elia of Italy defeated an injury-hampered Alexandra Stevenson 6-3, 6-2 to move into the third round.

The 20-year-old American wild card entrant, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 1999, needed treatment to her lower back at 3-2 in the first set and never fully recovered.

Farina completed two successive breaks against her grimacing opponent to take the opener and kept Stevenson moving as she took the second set to seal victory.

The 29-year-old Italian faces either Austria's Sylvia Plischke or Nadejda Petrova of Russia in the last 32.