Navratilova victory and rain is an old tradition

TENNIS/Wimbledon 2004: A seasonal deluge on day one. The sun departed, the clouds congregated and the temple of tennis was reduced to its most wretched dank bricks and mortar.

That at least was one Groundhog Day moment taken care of. The other was Martina Navratilova's breathless first-round win in the women's singles.

Yes, the original Navratilova. Two hoary traditions re-established with in an hour of the competition beginning. Wimbledon is already surpassing itself.

At 6-0, 6-1, Navratilova's 47-minute lesson in the art of serve-volley tennis was shorter than the first rain delay of the afternoon, which lasted 48 minutes. But few were disappointed. Nostalgia sells big here and those large-hearted stalwarts, who flocked to number two court to watch the flickering renaissance of the nine-times Wimbledon champion would have easily factored the arithmetic.

Navratilova was on court against her 24-year-old opponent Catalina Castano, for exactly one minute for each of her 47 years.

The match? Well, it was a thing of the 1970s and 1980s, something the exclusively clay-court artist, Castano, may never have seen in her life before. Damn it, Navratilova won her first Wimbledon title in 1978, two years before the Columbian was born.

"I've told you before," said Navratilova. "My only ambition was to be the youngest, it wasn't to be the oldest in something. But that's how it worked out and I'm not complaining."

Now established as the oldest woman to have won a match in the singles competition in the open era, Navratilova was as engaging on-court as off it. Her first volley, the one that has so many times set up her winning stroke for the point, was singing and error free, entirely in its comfort zone, her movement fluid and not at all the ragged, ill-at-ease pretender she was on the clay at Roland Garros last month.

To understand the profound differences between playing on clay and grass, the two faces of Navratilova need only be observed. At the French Open it was the bespectacled and fraught player that went out in the first round 6-0, 6-1. Quite a turn-around. Her age has taken some of the glide and speed around court, but Navratilova was classic and effective, albeit against a player at odds with the surface. But the twilight of a career can also bring it's own candles.

"I have an advantage on grass because I know how to play on grass, period," she said. "I've been doing it for a long time. And I'm a better athlete than most, that's an advantage. I'm a lefty, that's an advantage. I'm smart, that's an advantage. I have a lot of advantages and I put it to good use."

Navratilova now earns the chance to meet her Roland Garros nemesis. As the implosion of 23rd-seed Elena Dokic continues at pace, Gisela Dulko advanced 6-3, 6-3 to face Navratilova in the second round. It should be one to watch. "Would I like to get Dulko on the grass?" said Navratilova. "It will be a much tougher match but I'll be ready. I'll go scout, see what I can figure out."

As if the players knew they were under a time rule because of the rain, third-seed Venus Williams also raced through her first-round match. From the American's point of view opponent Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian's name thankfully exceeded, by some distance, her tour achievements. The 20-year-old had previously won just one WTA singles title to Williams' 31. Held to three games in the first set and none in the second made the Swiss player one of the early exits and fittingly propelled the smiling Williams onwards at pace.

Anastasia Myskina too. The successful half of the Russian duet in the French Open final stepped up the ladder with a two-set win over Slovakia's Lubomira Kurhajcova 7-5, 6-1. Hitting stride in the second set, Myskina's game was about her back-court accuracy, patience and tactics. She was closely followed by her Russian compatriot, the teenager Maria Sharapova, also a confident winner in two sets against Yulia Beygelzimer.

MEN'S SINGLES

ROUND ONE: (+) (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Alex Bogdanovic (Gbr) 6-3 6-3 6-0. Alejandro Falla (Col) bt Julian Knowle (Aut) 2-6 6-3 6-1 6-3. Fabrice Santoro (Fra) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 7-5 6-2 3-6 6-2. Thomas Johansson (Swe) bt (+) (29) Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-0. Gilles Elseneer (Bel) bt Arvind Parmar (Brit) 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-3. Ivo Karlovic (Cro) bt (+) (13) Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Alex Corretja (Spa) 4-6 6-3 6-2 5-7 6-4. Goran Ivanisevic (Cro) bt (+) (31) Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 6-3 7-6(7-4) 6-2. Filippo Volandri (Ita) bt Jamie Delgado (Brit) 6-1 6-3 6-3. (+) (7) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 6-2 6-4 6-2. (+) (17) Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) bt Raemon Sluiter (Ned) 5-7 6-1 7-5 6-1. (+) (10) Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Thierry Ascione (Fra) 6-4 6-2 6-4. Gregory Carraz (Fra) bt Christophe Rochus (Bel) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4. Daniele Bracciali (Ita) bt Jan Hernych (Cze) 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3. (+) (27) Robby Ginepri (USA) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-3. Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Glenn Weiner (USA) 6-4 6-4 6-4. Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Jose Acasuso (Arg) 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-1. (+) (6) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt Julien Boutter (Fra) 6-4 7-6(7-4) 6-3.

WOMEN'S SINGLES

ROUND ONE: (+) (5) Lindsay Davenport (USA) bt Dally Randriantefy (Mad) 6-2 6-1. Kristina Brandi (Pue) bt Iveta Benesova (Cze) 6-2 6-0. Mashona Washington (USA) bt Angelique Widjaja (Ina) 6-2 6-1. Tatiana Panova (Rus) bt (+) (28) Emilie Loit (Fra) 6-1 6-2. Martina Navratilova (USA) bt Catalina Castano (Col) 6-0 6-1. Saori Obata (Jpn) bt Eva Birnerova (Cze) 4-6 6-4 7-5. (+) (12) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Samantha Stosur (Aus) 6-4 6-4. Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) bt (+) (16) Anna Pistolesi (Isr) 6-4 6-3. Denisa Chladkova (Cze) bt Marlene Weingartner (Ger) 6-3 6-1. Jill Craybas (USA) bt Cara Black (Zim) 6-4 6-3. (+) (21) Magdalena Maleeva (Bul) bt Vera Douchevina (Rus) 6-1 7-5. (+) (3) Venus Williams (USA) bt Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian (Swi) 6-3 6-0 Teryn Ashley (USA) bt Tina Pisnik (Slo) 2-6 6-1 7-5. (+) (27) Alicia Molik (Aus) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 6-1 6-4. (+) (11) Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) bt Amanda Janes (Gbr) 3-6 6-2 6-3. (+) (13) Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr) 6-2 6-1. Anne Keothavong (Brit) bt Nicole Pratt (Aus) 6-3 6-1. (+) (31) Amy Frazier (USA) bt Maria Kirilenko (Rus) 6-1 6-4. Emily Webley-Smith (Brit) bt Severine Beltrame (Fra) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4. Aniko Kapros (Hun) bt Mervana Jugic-Salkic (Bsh) 6-4 2-6 6-3. (+) (2) Anastasia Myskina (Rus) bt Lubomira Kurhajcova (Svk) 7-5 6-1.