Asked again who he would like to see contest the final if he could not he made it clear that success

Asked again who he would like to see contest the final if he could not, he made it clear that success for a fellow Briton is not on his agenda.”When I’m out, I don’t really care,” he said “It doesn’t interest me. “I was happy with the mixture of my game, my serve did not let me down.”Asked about his chances in SW19, and about whom he would like to see win at the All England Club, himself aside, he was bullish “Me, I want me to win it,” he said. “I felt physically fine out there, two and a half hours on the grass” he said. He only started hitting balls again 10 days ago, and said that he was happy with his fitness, his game and his chances at Wimbledon. When it came to the crunch the Australian simply had the stronger finish.Rusedski had not played a match for five weeks before yesterday after suffering a neck injury in training. A 154-minute penalty shoot-out was however, albeit an absorbing one punctuated with some delightful passing shots from the Briton and some well-placed drop volleys from Philippoussis Rusedski hit 24 aces, his opponent 25 Rusedski double-faulted four times, his opponent 14.

I did everything I possibly could, but when he’s hitting second serves at 130mph, what can you do?”With two of the game’s biggest servers up against each other, a dazzling display of style was never on the cards. “It was three tight sets where I didn’t lose my serve at all and it came down to a few points at the end really. Philosophical rather than disappointed, the British No 2 said afterwards that will be now accept a wild card to play the Samsung Open in Nottingham next week in order to get some match practice before Wimbledon.”I can’t really be too disappointed with my performance today,” Rusedski said afterwards. But less about the ball girls.
Greg Rusedski became the fifth Briton of five to lose his opening match of the tournament, going down 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 to Mark Philippoussis of Australia after a predictably tight contest that was settled by three tie-breaks. Neat ball control, accurate placement, unstinting optimism that Sunday’s final is an achievable goal.

The British contingent at the Stella Artois Championships had another commendable day here yesterday. Last year’s beaten finalist, the Netherlands’ Miriam Oremans, moved into the second round by defeating Marissa Irvin, of the United States, 6-2 6-2.. I lost four months from November with chicken pox, food poisoning and tonsillitis but I am fully fit now. I got back into the match and was 2-0 up but she is not high up the rankings for nothing.

It was not enough, however, and she had to concede defeat to an opponent ranked 197 places above her in the world at 41.”The second set was much better than the first,” Baltacha said “My service wasn’t good enough in the first set. When she resumed two hours and 15 minutes later at 30-40, she immediately lost the point and saw her service broken.
Serna, the No 13 seed, then took control and won a further three games before Baltacha hit back. Baltacha was 2-0 ahead in the second set when play was postponed because of rain. The 18-year-old British No 3 dug deep before losing 6-1 6-3 to Magui Serna, of Spain, in the first round of the DFS Classic. One of Britain’s leading prospects, Elena Baltacha, gave an indication here yesterday that she is on the mend after missing fourth months of the season because of illness. (replacements tbc).ENGLAND PARTY TO TOUR ARGENTINABacks: G Appleford (London Irish), T Beim (Gloucester), P Christophers (Bristol), M Cueto (Sale), A Gomarsall (Gloucester), C Hodgson (Sale), M Horak (London Irish), B Johnston (Saracens), T May (Newcastle), D Rees (Bristol), K Sorrell (Saracens), T Stimpson (Leicester), D Walder (Newcastle), N Walshe (Sale).Forwards: P Anglesea (Sale), A Balding (Leicester), A Codling (Harlequins), D Danaher (London Irish), R Fidler (Gloucester), D Flatman (Saracens), B Kay (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), R Morris (Northampton), M Regan (Bath), A Sanderson (Sale), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester, capt), H Vyvyan (Newcastle), T Woodman (Gloucester), J Worsley (Wasps)..