Seles and Raymond cruise through

The Americans Monica Seles and Lisa Raymond moved easily into the second round here yesterday.

The 28–year–old Seles had a dream start to Wimbledon as she overpowered Eva Bes of Spain 6–0 6–0 in just 37 minutes, while Raymond, also 28, had a slightly tougher battle during her 6-4 6-2 victory over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Seles, who has won nine Grand Slam titles but has yet to win Wimbledon, had the distinction of being the first person in the tournament to win a match without dropping a game.

The 29–year–old Bes will remember her Wimbledon debut for all the wrong reasons - not only failing to win a game, but not even threatening to do so as the Spaniard only managed one winner and won a total of 15 points in the match.

Bes looked completely out of her depth as she failed to adapt from her beloved clay to the Wimbledon grass and lost the first set 6–0 in just 17 minutes. "For my first match, I was happy to have an opponent like her today," Seles said. "I think she was having a hard time adjusting to grass. She's definitely better on clay.

The second set continued in the same vein with the 90th ranked Bes never threatening to put her opponent under any kind of pressure. Bes failed to get to grips with Seles' pace and continously hit weak replies giving Seles the initiative in the rallies of which she hit winner after winner. The rare point the Spaniard won was greeted by enthusiastic applause from a crowd that wanted to see her make a match of it.

Seles, who lost to Steffi Graf in the 1992 final and missed Wimbledon last year with a stress fracture in her foot, still thinks she can win the one Grand Slam title that eludes her. "I definitely wouldn't be out here if I didn't think I could still win another Grand Slam," she said. "That's one thing that drives me. Realistically, this is the tournament I have the least chance but I really enjoy playing here. When the weather is like it is today, it definitely suits my game."

Lisa Raymond is one of the few women in the draw that has benefited from the Wimbledon seeding committee. The experienced serve and volleyer, who currently has a ranking of 35 has been seeded 16 because of her grasscourt prowess.

What the American lacked in power she made up with finesse as she gave Srebotnik a lesson in grasscourt tennis. Raymond put her 21 year old opponent under pressure from the start with solid serving and beautiful touch at the net to win the match in sixty eight minutes.

Raymond is known more as a doubles specialist where she is the No 1 seed and defending champion here with partner Rennae Stubbs. Always one to emphasise that singles is more important to her than doubles, she won the tournament in Memphis earlier this year - only the third of her career and her first title since the 2000 Wimbledon warm-up event in Birmingham. She is playing in her tenth Wimbledon, where her best result in the singles was a quarter-final showing in 2000.

It was a day for veterans as the 30 year old former champion, Conchita Martinez thrashed Celine Beigbeder of France 6-1 6-0. The Spaniard who has slipped down the rankings to No 66 due to injury, played with the form that saw her win the title in 1994 and next faces Switzerland's Patty Schnyder.