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Croatian takes out Hewitt in England

John Van Lottum of the Netherlands crashes to the ground, during his Men's Singles, first round match against Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten on Center Court during the first day of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon on Monday. Kuerten won the match after Van Lottum retired injured. PHOTO: AP

Wimbledon began with an upset unprecedented in the Open era Monday when defending champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to 2.08m qualifier Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.

Karlovic, the tallest player in tournament history, dominated with his serve and beat Hewitt 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

Since the first Wimbledon in 1877, the only other defending men's champion to lose in the opening round was Spain's Manuel Santana, who fell to Charlie Pasarell in 1967. That match, which also marked the only other defeat of a top-seeded man in the opening round, took place one year before the Open era began.

Karlovic, 24, was playing his first Grand Slam match and his seventh at the tour level, but he proved an imposing opponent for the 1.80m Hewitt.

"It's tough," said Andy Roddick, whose path to the semifinals became easier with Hewitt's loss. "The guy looked like he was serving out of a tree against Lleyton."

The upset came on the sport's grandest stage. In keeping with tradition, the defending champion played the first match of the tournament on Centre Court, so that's where Karlovic made his Wimbledon debut.

Chandra Rubin of the US prepares to serve to Iva Majoli of Croatia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, England on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

"I'd never seen him play," Hewitt said. "I'd seen him walk around a bit before."

The Croat looked nervous at the start but poised at the finish. He served out the final game at love, hitting a 119 mph second serve for a winner on match point. He raised his long arms and threw a fist, and that was the extent of his celebration.

Hewitt's loss was in sharp contrast to his girlfriend's first-round result. French Open runner-up Kim Clijsters beat Paraguay's Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios 6-0, 6-0 in 31 minutes.

Other winners in women's play included 2000 and 2001 champion Venus Williams, 1999 champ Lindsay Davenport and No. 7-seeded Chanda Rubin.

Roddick, seeded fifth, hit 14 aces and 21 service winners to beat Davide Sanguinetti 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. He advanced to a showdown of big serves in the second round against Britain's Greg Rusedski, who hit 31 aces to beat Germany Alexander Waske 7-6 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (7).

Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten won when John Van Lottum quit with a back injury leading 6-2, 2-3. Kuerten's next opponent will be Todd Martin, who improved to 21-13 in five-set matches by beating Fernando Vicente 6-7 (4), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4.

No. 4 Roger Federer, No. 9 Rainer Schuettler, No. 12 Paradorn Srichaphan and No. 16 Mikhail Youzhny also advanced. American Mardy Fish beat No. 29 Gaston Gaudio 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Also eliminated were No. 31 Vince Spadea, No. 33 Nikolay Davydenko and American Taylor Dent, who lost to Ivan Ljubicic.

On a sunny, mild afternoon, Hewitt and Karlovic walked onto the immaculate Centre Court lawn side by side but hardly shoulder to shoulder, since the Croat is 28m taller. There were no bows to the Royal Box, a tradition eliminated this year.

The match began as expected. A shaky Karlovic double-faulted twice to lose the first game, then double-faulted twice more in his next service game to fall behind 3-0. He dropped the first set in 19 minutes.

The momentum turned when Karlovic hit two big serves and a forehand winner to take the final three points of the second-set tiebreaker. When he reached break point for the first time, Hewitt double-faulted to fall behind 3-1 in the third set, and soon the fiery Australian was on the ropes.

"He got better and better as the match went on," Hewitt said. "He got more and more confident, and he started serving a whole heap better."

Karlovic served well and charged the net with his enormous wingspan, making it difficult for Hewitt to pass. The Australian cracked under the constant pressure, misfiring on two ground-strokes to lose his serve and give Karlovic a 5-4 lead in the final set.

One point in the final game underscored the mismatch in size. Hewitt hit a topspin lob, a shot that frequently bails him out of trouble, but Karlovic reached up and slammed it for a winner.

Two points later, Karlovic had his stunning victory. He finished with 18 aces and 41 service winners, and won despite breaking serve just twice.

Last year, another unknown Croat, Mario Ancic, upset Federer in the first round. Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia won the 2001 title.

"Goran, he was always my idol," Karlovic said.

"He gave me congratulations."

Hewitt dropped only two sets en route to the title last year, but his game has slipped in 2003, and he'll fall to at least fourth in the next rankings. The Australian lost the No. 1 ranking to Andre Agassi last week and has failed to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal this year. He was beaten in the fourth round at the Australian Open by Younes El Aynaoui and in the third round by Tommy Robredo at the French Open.

Hewitt's latest loss opens up that quarter of the draw for Roddick, who never lost serve and needed only 80 minutes to beat Sanguinetti.

The 20-year-old Roddick began working this month with Agassi's former coach, Brad Gilbert. The pairing quickly paid off with Roddick's first grass-court title at Queen's Club, and with perhaps the most formidable serve in tennis, he's touted as one of the Wimbledon favorites.

"Roddick is playing the best tennis of his life, maybe, at the moment," three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker said.

Williams, seeded fourth, beat Stanislava Hrozenska of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2 in 50 minutes. Davenport, seeded fifth, defeated Australia's Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. American Samantha Reeves eliminated No. 25 Anna Pistolesi of Israel 6-4, 6-4.
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