Wednesday, June 28 2006 14:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Andre Agassi looked as if he was feeling all of his 36 years but survived to fight another day as he embarked on his final Wimbledon campaign here on Tuesday. On a day when defending champion Roger Federer could scarcely have made grass court tennis look any easier, the American appeared to be in trouble when he dropped the first set to Serbia's Boris Pashanski.

Agassi rallied to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 to the delight of a packed Centre Court, but even the most ardent of his fans would acknowledge it was a far from vintage display from the 1992 champion, who appeared to be troubled by the back injury which forced him to miss the entire clay court season.

"It can get a lot better," Agassi himself admitted, before revealing that the reception he had received on walking out had brought on an uncharacteristic attack of nerves.

"To feel that support just meant the world to me and I just wanted to do them proud and got a little nervous. I was maybe trying a little too hard and overhitting a lot. It took me a while to settle down," he said.

Agassi's toil was in sharp contrast to the apparently effortless way in which triple champion Roger Federer eased into a second round meeting with Tim Henman.

Leading Richard Gasquet 6-3, 1-2 overnight after play was washed out on Monday, Federer only needed another 37 minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

It was a performance that extended Federer's winning run on grass to a record 42 matches, passing the mark he had previously shared with Bjorn Borg.

Ominously for Henman, who needed five sets to beat Robin Soderling of Sweden, Federer could not recall opening any Grand Slam in better form.

"It was one of the toughest draws I have had so to come up and play as well as I did, particularly over two days, I was very happy," he said.

"I don't know if it was my best first round display but it is up there," he said.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal, the second seed, battled for two and half hours to see off British wildcard Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and now faces America's Robert Kendrick.

Fourth seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina and Croatia's seventh seed Mario Ancic, the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon in 2002, also reached the next round.

Martina Hingis made it a good day for Switzerland by beating Ukrainian Olga Savchuk comfortably in her first appearance on the lawns of the All England Club for five years.

Like her compatriot, Hingis wasted no time wrapping up her rain-interrupted first round match 6-2, 6-2.

Hingis, who won here as a 16-year-old in 1997, resumed playing at the end of 2005, three years after retiring, and has defied the odds by re-establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with in the women's game.

"It's nice to be back," she said, before revealing that she had done most of her preparation for her return to the grass on an indoor court.

"I think that's somehow my secret and I don't think I'm the only one," she said.

"When Andre (Agassi) won he was practising indoors. Somehow it gets your technique back together," he said.

"It's quicker, the bounce is right and you don't have all the outside effects. I need to get some rhythm before I go out there and play because it kind of messes up your technique," he said.

There were also wins for Belgian duo Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, the second and third seeds in the women's singles.

Henin, who is bidding to win the only Grand Slam that has eluded her, was absolutely ruthless in her 6-0, 6-1 demolition of China's Yuan Meng, while Clijsters had to work harder to beat former top ten player Vera Zvonoreva 7-5, 6-3.



Henin in particular had the air of a woman who believes this could be her year.

"I was very consistent, very aggressive," she said.

"It was just the kind of match you need in the first round," he said.

The highest women's seeded casualty was Russia's Maria Kirilenko, the number 12, who lost 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) to Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

After rain washed out all but 35 minutes of play on Monday, a day of fine, dry weather brought relief to the officials of the All England Club, which will have to repay 33,000 fans who bought tickets.