Dokic furious over centre-court snub

Jelena Dokic, who left Edgbaston with a grin and her first grass-court title on Sunday, departed with disgust and a defeat in her opening match here yesterday.

The top-seeded Yugoslav also launched into a tirade about being moved from centre court to an exposed court one, where a tricky wind helped drag nine double faults from her in a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 defeat to another 19-year-old, Daja Bedanova.

"As top seed, to play on No1 court just because there are some ridiculous matches on centre court, I wasn't happy with that," Dokic grumbled, appearing to gesture towards where the 45-year-old nine-times Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova was losing a long, noisy, and very well received contest with Daniela Hantuchova.

"I think it's ridiculous when the No1 seed is on court one and you have the No2 seed and players not even seeded on the centre court," added Dokic. "I'm definitely disappointed, because I wanted to go further than that."

Three of her double faults came, crucially, in the final game of the first set and three more in the game that triggered Bedanova's match-clinching sequence of four games in the final set.

Dokic's complaint might have sounded more convincing had it been made when she was consulted before the match by the WTA Tour supervisor Pam Whytcross. Originally she had been scheduled on the centre court, and a change was made because Bedanova had not completed her previous match and because Navratilova, 11 times a champion here, had already proved herself by far the biggest draw.

"They would have had a hard time putting us on court one," Navratilova smiled. "And in the past I have been on court No1 when there have been other ridiculous matches on centre court," she added, parodying Dokic.

"I have played matches at Wimbledon on court four or five when I was the No1 seed - and also the defending champion."

For a while it seemed that Navratilova, again demonstrating how a good serve-volley game would add a valuable dimension to many on the WTA tour, might conjure another improbable result.

The winner against the world No22 Tatiana Panova on Tuesday, Navratilova went a set and a break up against the world No13 before the trip down memory lane came to a cul-de-sac.

Hantuchova, who claimed never to have been more nervous, began serving better and making more passes, going on to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and revealing a pleasant sense of irony about someone who was both tour mentor and opponent.

"It's great to have a legend on the phone to help you," the Slovakian teenager said. "But suddenly she's there on the other side of the net trying to stop me - and she didn't tell me anything about how to play her."

Dokic's other target for complaint, the second-seeded Sandrine Testud, also lost. Her 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Anne Kremer means that Hantuchova switches from being the light-hearted villain of the piece to the photogenic favourite for the title.

Meanwhile the remaining Britons in the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon lost their second-round matches yesterday. Lorna Woodroffe was beaten 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 by the Australian Rachel McQuillan and Andrew Banks lost his tie against Greece's Konstantinos Economidis 7-6, 6-4.

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