Davenport wary of big four

Fifth seed Lindsay Davenport cruised into the third round at Wimbledon – but admitted she still had a long way to go to match the tournament favourites.

The former champion enjoyed an easy 6-3 6-1 victory over Italy’s Rita Grande on Court One and will face Cara Black in the last 32 after the Zimbabwean defeated 30th seed Denisa Chladkova.

Davenport won her third Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2000 and reached the semi-finals the following year, but missed the first six months of last season after undergoing knee surgery in January.

The 27-year-old recovered sufficiently to reach the semi-finals of the US Open but has again been troubled by injuries and will need more surgery on her left foot later this season.

And the former world number one concedes she is still trying to catch up with the Williams sisters and Belgian duo Justin Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, the four players ranked above her in the world.

“There’s no question that those four players are right now at the very top of the game and the rest of us need to catch up,” said Davenport, who closed out the match with an ace.

“For a while there I was one of those top players that people were always striving to get to so for me it’s a little bit of a different situation and one it’s difficult to like.

“There’s no question I’m going to have to have some big wins to get back on top. If someone told me at this point last year when I hadn’t played in about eight months that I’d be back to five in the world and still hanging in there, I’d be ecstatic.

“I have a problem with my left foot that I’ve carried since Paris that will need surgery at some point this year, it’s an inflamed nerve called aneuroma.

“There’s not a lot you can do except give it Cortisone once or twice and once that wears off you have to have surgery to sever the nerve. I’m relishing that!

“But today was a big stepping stone. I was able to play the right type of tennis to be successful on grass. I’m feeling a lot better than I was yesterday because I didn’t think I started well at all on Monday.”

Seventh seed Chanda Rubin also moved into the third round with a 6-4 6-4 victory over fellow American Amy Frazier, and will take on Silvia Farina Elia after the Italian overcame Canadian qualifier Maureen Drake.

Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who knocked out Venus Williams in the French Open, remained on course for another fourth round showdown with the American by beating Conchita Martinez 6-3 6-1.

She now faces Uzbekistan’s Iroda Tulyaganova in the third round after Tulyaganova was another straight sets winner over Hungary’s Petra Mandula.

Second seed Kim Clijsters lost her first game of the Championships but still progressed comfortably to the third round with victory over France's Virginie Razzano.

Clijsters, who took just 31 minutes to win her first match 6-0 6-0, won 6-1 6-3 on Centre Court and now faces American Samantha Reeves in the last 32.