Seeded players are always thought to be vulnerable during the first week at Wimbledon but rarely can SW19 have seen three days quite like this. After the stunning exits of third seeds Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova over the past two days, women's No1 Ana Ivanovic followed them this afternoon, beaten 6-1, 6-4 by world No133 Zheng Jie.
If such a one-sided scoreline seems hard to believe at a glance, it was nevertheless an entirely representative one. For all the vocal support she received from a group of predominantly male admirers on Court One, Ivanovic looked both tired - understandable given her French Open victory and epic three-and-a-half hour match against Nathalie Dechy on Wednesday - and overburdened by her status as world No1.
Despite Ivanovic's success in claiming a first grand slam at Ronald Garros, the accusation lingers that she feels the weight of expectation more than most. If her 17 unforced errors during today's defeat point to such a conclusion, then the moment when, at 4-3 down in the second set, television cameras appeared to catch her wiping away tears between games was perhaps even more telling.
But credit is due to Zheng because for every bit that Ivanovic's performance was flawed, her own was close to flawless. British tennis is so used to disappointment that there is a tendency to blame every defeat on the player who lost, but Elena Baltacha may feel her own performance against Zheng in the second round deserves a reassessment in light of today's match.
Zheng could not match her opponent for power or finesse - she produced just 10 winners to Ivanovic's 17 - but she made up the difference with sheer doggedness, finding ways to return the ball time and again when the point seemed lost. In the end such tenacity drove Ivanovic to distraction, forcing the No1 to attempt more and more aggressive strokes - too many of which failed to clear the net cord.
"Obviously a little bit," replied Ivanovic afterwards when asked if she had felt any extra pressure being the world No1. "But I think she played really well today. She has a very powerful shot, she stays very low, so the balls are coming much faster through the air. Like I said, it's still a learning experience for me."
The question now is which player will take advantage in an ever-more open women's draw, and Serena Williams may be well positioned to do just that after beating Amélie Mauresmo 7-6, 6-1 on Centre Court. It was nothing like a vintage performance from Williams, but then such things are not expected this early in the tournament by a woman, who, like her sister, regularly opts not to attend any sort of grass warm-up event before Wimbledon.
In the early stages Williams looked content to stroll against an opponent who is not at full fitness and who she has beaten on nine of 11 previous meetings. Mauresmo would not be brushed aside, though, and it was only once she had been forced to a tie-breaker that Williams finally seemed to engage with the match and begin to raise her game. Once she did the result was never in doubt.
"I love playing [Mauresmo]," smiled Williams in her post-match press conference. "We always have a good match." On the form she showed in the second set, few will approach a match against Williams with such relish.
