Myskina bows out as tiredness takes its toll

A “TIRED” French Open champion Anastasia Myskina could not hide her disappointment after bowing out of Wimbledon on court two, the ‘graveyard of the seeds’.

The Russian came to the All England Club on the back of a first Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros, but was not able to manage a repeat performance at SW19 after losing 4-6 6-4 6-4 to American Amy Frazier.

It was Myskina's second match in as many days after her meeting with Hungarian Aniko Kapros had been held over by the rain delay, and also went to three sets.

"I was pretty slow today," reflected the number two seed. "I didn't move as well as I should have. I deserved to lose this match because I wasn't really ready to win. Amy was playing pretty good and she really wanted to win the match."

Myskina conceded it was difficult to raise herself for the challenges of grass - not to mention England's inclement summer weather following such a successful run on clay in Paris.

"The preparation maybe wasn't good enough, the weather as well and the fact I had to play a lot of matches. I'm a human being and I got tired."

The 22-year-old was given little chance to reflect on her defeat, though, as she had to take part in the women's doubles with compatriot Vera Zvonareva later in the afternoon.

That match was, ironically, also on court two, but this time ended on a positive note following the 6-4 6-2 win over Samantha Reeves and Elena Tatarkova.

Number four seed Amelie Mauresmo is starting to show the form which could see her eclipse the run to the semi-finals of the All England Club she made in 2002.

The Frenchwoman secured another quick-fire victory in this year's competition when she beat American Jennifer Hopkins 6-3 6-3.

Ninth seed Paola Suarez of Argentina also made it into round three with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Belgium's Els Callens and Russian Nadia Petrova, the 10th seed, beat Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-3 3-6 6-2.

America's Lisa Raymond and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland are out, though, after losing to Slovakian Ludmila Cervanova and Swiss player Emmanuelle Gagliardi respectively.

Elsewhere, Ai Sugiyama the 11th seed from Japan beat France's Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-2 while Zvonareva, seeded 12, won 6-4 6-2 against Gisela Dulko, who had knocked Martina Navratilova in the last round.

Maria Sharapova the 13th seed from Russia who won in Birmingham last week secured a safe passage into round three with a 6-3 6-1 win over Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

Former champion Lindsay Davenport defeated Tatiana Panova 6-2 6-1.