Reigning champion Venus Williams led an impressive display of the top women's seeds into the second round on the first day of Wimbledon 2002. The American player dropped only two games against British teenager Jane O'Donoghue while fourth seed Monica Seles was gave Wimbledon debutante Eva Bes no chance with a 6-0 6-0 thrashing.
Justine Henin, last year's beaten finalist, survived a second-set scare to beat American Brie Rippner 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 while fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, the fifth seed, eased into the second round with a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) defeat of Samantha Reeves.
Williams opened the defence of her title in particularly confident fashion with a 6-1 6-1 win over O'Donoghue, the British number seven who was on Wimbledon debut. Williams now plays Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual - last year's conqueror of Martina Hingis. Meanwhile Monica Seles has insisted she can capture the elusive Gold trophy for the first time after she ousted put paid to Eva Bes' hopes in 38 minutes.
Clijsters and Henin had to work harder for their passage into second round, with both players blaming illness and injury for their struggles.Clijsters, whose next opponent will be unseeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva, admitted that she was still striving to recapture her best form due to the lingering effects of an arm injury.
Filed by Sinéad Gleeson
