Enlarge imageBy Pritha Sarkar
LONDON (Reuters) - The now familiar tide of Murray-mania swept across Wimbledon on Tuesday as Andy Murray began his bid to end Britain's 73-year wait for a men's singles champion.
With the sun beating down on southwest London, crowds flocked into the All England Club for the second day running as Murray made his much-anticipated appearance on Centre Court.
One man hoping to gatecrash the British party was American Robert Kendrick, Murray's opening round opponent.
"I would love to disappoint a nation," he told British media in the build-up to the match. "But then I would probably have to leave the country the next day."
Third seed Murray was welcomed by a bumper crowd at the increasingly popular grasscourt tournament after 42,811 spectators came through the gates on the opening day.
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That was 354 higher than the previous single-day record set during the 2002 championships.
But before the main Murray show began, there had been plenty of supporting acts around to entertain the fans on day two.
MINIMUM FUSS
Venus Williams performed her duties as champion with the minimum of fuss to stride into the second round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele.
The American, described by nine times former champion Martina Navratilova as having "the wingspan of a 747," used her long limbs to great effect to easily fly past Wimbledon debutant Voegele.
"It's the best place to be when you are a pro tennis player and I savour every blade of it," said Williams, who is chasing a sixth title at Wimbledon. "I've had that crown for several years and I want to make it mine again."
Dinara Safina's chances of living up to her world number one billing did not look too promising as she struggled past Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5 6-3.
Sixth seed Jelena Jankovic also struggled as she clawed her way back from 5-2 down in the second set to beat Germany's Julia Goerges 6-4 7-6.
While the bubbly Serbian skipped back into the locker room, her namesake Jelena Dokic buried her head in a towel after her return to Wimbledon ended in a 3-6 7-5 6-2 defeat by Tatjana Malek of Germany.
Almost four weeks after Dokic left court in floods of tears, when her Roland Garros challenge ended with a back injury, she suffered another blow at the grasscourt major.
DIZZY SPELL
A dizzy spell brought on by what she thought might be a virus, ruined her day and she had to have her blood pressure taken on court.
"I wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the second. And that's where things just started going downhill," said Dokic, whose estranged father Damir was recently jailed for 15 months for making death threats against the Australian ambassador in Belgrade.
"I was aching a little bit and I was dizzy," she added.
Another sentimental favourite, Kimiko Date Krumm, making her return to Wimbledon after a 13-year absence, also wilted under the heat in her opening match.
The 38-year-old Japanese made her professional debut in 1989 before her opponent on Tuesday, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, was even born.
Despite being old enough to be Wozniacki's mother, Date Krumm gave the 18-year-old ninth seed the run around in the opening set before fading away to a 5-7 6-3 6-1 defeat.
Fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, boosted to the top of the draw following world number one and champion Rafael Nadal's withdrawal, made a mockery of his supposed lack of grasscourt expertise by easing past Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 6-1 6-2.
Next up for the Argentine will be 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt, a 6-4 6-1 6-1 winner over American Robby Ginepri.
Sixth seed Andy Roddick showed few ill-effects from the ankle sprain he suffered 10 days ago at Queen's Club and blasted 21 aces en route to downing Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3.
Asked if he felt like he was under the radar this year with all the hype surrounding a potential Murray-Roger Federer final, he fired back: "At this point in my career, I really don't care who's saying what, about who, and when, and where, and how."
(Editing by Ken Ferris)
