I am very happy and very excited.”—GREG’S GONE Greg Rusedski took a beating on the court, losing his first-round match to Vince Spadea to end the American’s record 21-match losing streak.He also got beat up in today’s British papers.”World’s biggest loser rolls over Rusedski,” The Independent headline said.”Greg’s a goner,” said The Daily Mail. “He fought like a dog but played like one.”"Scrambled Greg,” added The Mirror.—ANNA ANGST Eric van Harpen, the coach of 19-year-old Russian Anna Kournikova, said her tennis could be suffering because of the intense interest in her good looks.Kournikova is reported to earn about dlrs 10 million in endorsements but has yet to win a tournament, though she did win her first-round match on Monday over Frenchwoman and No. 10 seed Sandrine Testud.”I have trouble speaking to her when she is surrounded by fans,” Van Harpen said “It is very difficult to talk in a normal way with her. I have trouble speaking my mind when she is surrounded.”In addition to Wimbledon, Kournikova is also on display on 1,500 billboards around Britain modeling a sports bra.”I would like to have less attention on her,” Van Harpen said. “She is the focus all the time.”—LUCIC SHAPES UP Mirjana Lucic, a surprise semifinalist last year at Wimbledon, has had a disastrous season so far but could be making a comeback with new coach Harold Solomon.The 18-year-old Croatian had won just one match in nine tournaments this year before overcoming Czech Denisa Chladkova 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Monday.She’s hoping that the coach who resurrected the career of Jennifer Capriati can work the same magic on her.”I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself and didn’t do the work I was supposed to do,” said Lucic, explaining her miserable tally of just four wins since reaching the semifinals here a year ago. “I relaxed a little and thought I could just show up and win matches.”I didn’t do things the right way. I’m not a lazy person, but I haven’t had a really good coach with me.

I’m a person who needs to be pushed and just needed the right advice.”As well as beginning what she hopes will be a long and fruitful association with Solomon, Lucic said she has also been inspired by Monica Seles, who was born in the former Yugoslavia.”I played with her the last couple of days and I have to say she’s an incredible person,” Lucic said. “She comes to the court and every time gives 100 percent, every single minute.—SPEED RECORD Greg Rusedski figures his record serve of 149 mph (240 kph), set in 1998, is safe. That’s because the International Tennis Federation has brought bigger balls into the game, about 6 percent larger than before.”They are making the threads of the balls fluff up a lot more and keep increasing the size,” Rusedski said.—QUADRUPLE DOUBLE Former Wimbledon finalist Cedric Pioline lost a game on Monday by double faulting on four straight points. Adding insult to injury he was called for a foot fault on the fourth point – when his serve was in. Pioline still won the match, beating Christian Ruud of Norway 7-6 (4), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3..

Sir Cliff Richard has launched a fundraising campaign, called “Kids on Court”, to raise £1m to encourage young people to get off their sofas and head for their local tennis courts. The press release accompanying the campaign is unequivocal about why such an initiative is needed. “Too many children today,” it says, “lead unhealthy, couch-potato lifestyles, living solitary existences behind computers and in front of TV sets with potentially damaging effects on their health and fitness levels”. Which only begs the question – how long before “Journalists on Court?”

Sir Cliff Richard has launched a fundraising campaign, called “Kids on Court”, to raise £1m to encourage young people to get off their sofas and head for their local tennis courts. The press release accompanying the campaign is unequivocal about why such an initiative is needed.

“Too many children today,” it says, “lead unhealthy, couch-potato lifestyles, living solitary existences behind computers and in front of TV sets with potentially damaging effects on their health and fitness levels”. Which only begs the question – how long before “Journalists on Court?”
 Say what you like about Anna Kournikova’s lack of a singles title, you have to give the girl credit for competing at all at her tender age. “The best is yet to come for Kournikova,” said the esteemed guide to last week’s Wimbledon warm-up, the Direct Line Championships in Eastbourne. “Her tennis journey began in Christmas 1996, when she was five years old.” For a moment, Andre Agassi must have thought that the British journalist had taken the obsession with his private life too far. “We’ve charted the rise and fall and rise again of Andre Agassi,” said the hack, making extravagant up and down gestures towards the Las Vegan with his hands. “I wonder where we are on the graph now?” One year on from Greg Rusedski being trumpeted as “The Fifty-Million Dollar Man”, we wonder how much of the lucre has found its way into his bank account. The moniker, you might remember, was coined when he signed his “staggering” 10-year deal with the sportswear manufacture, Donnay, which promised him riches beyond his wildest dreams for the endorsement.The only drawback, of course, was that the deal was just a tad performance-related.

A little more than a tad, in fact, being primarily made up of a $1m (£600,000) bonus for each Grand Slam he managed to secure over 10 years, and another $1m for each year of his contract that he topped the world rankings.Given the number of top titles (nil) and the number of weeks at the pinnacle (nil), might it not have been more modest to start as “The Fifty Dollar Man” and work your way up?YESTERDAY’S STATISTICS15 The aces served by Pete Sampras on his way to victory over Jiri Vanek yesterday47 The victories Sampras has recorded at Wimbledon since 1993. He has lost only once at Wimbledon in that period191 The difference in places in the ATP rankings between Costa Rica’s Juan Antonio Marin and Britain’s Martin Lee, who won in three sets7 The match points saved by Angeles Montilio before her defeat by Martin HingisTODAY’S WEATHERThe day will be bright with long spells of sunshine. Some cloud may develop in the afternoon but it will remain dry and should clear later Temperatures should rise to 23C.. Martina Hingis took the first step towards exorcising last year’s ignominious first-round exit from Wimbledon yesterday by breezing through to this year’s second round with a straight-sets win over Angeles Montolio of Spain.