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Davenport survives to play another round

Defending women's Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport came back from 0-3 and two break points down in the final set to squeeze past Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Likhovtseva had never taken a set off Davenport in earlier meetings. Despite hitting winners from the baseline and keeping Davenport guessing on every point, she could not stop the lackadaisical Davenport from scrambling past her.

Sixth seed Monica Seles sailed past Belgian Els Callens 6-4, 6-4 while ninth seed Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez Vicario swept aside Italian Rita Grande 6-3, 6-1. Jennifer Capriati defeated fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6, 6-2.

In the men's draw, fourth seed and French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten swept away qualifier Justin Bower 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 with powerful serves and blistering ground strokes. Twelfth seed Pat Rafter put down compatriot Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Eighth seed Englishman Tim Henman beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to take his place in the last 32.

With seeded players finding the going tough in the initial rounds, only eight are left in both the men's and women's draws. Men's defending champion Pete Sampras narrowly avoided joining the exodus. Sampras and Sweden's Thomas Enqvist are the only seeds left in the top half of the draw.

Sampras is playing for a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title.

Agencies