Hewitt Eases By, Ljubicic Struggles to Win

Fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic squandered eight match points in four different games before defeating Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9 to reach the Wimbledon second round.

Ljubicic, ranked No. 4 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, has never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon and has won just three matches in seven appearances. The Croatian fired 32 aces (and survived 26 from Lopez).

Lopez, the best performed Spanish player at Wimbledon in recent years, double faulted on match point at 30-40. Earlier in the set he had twice dug himself out of holes at 15-40, but was unable to do so a third time.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt breezed into the second round with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over Italian Filippo Volandri. The Australian served 12 aces, made just 14 unforced errors and did not drop serve, while breaking Volandri six times.

Hewitt, who won a fourth title at the Stella Artois Championships in his lone grass court appearance before Wimbledon, improved his career record at the All England Club to 22-6. He reached the semifinals last year, the quarterfinals in 2004 and in 2002 he won the title -- his last Grand Slam tournament victory.

Max Mirnyi served 20 aces and withstood 26 from Mark Philippoussis to advance to the third round with a 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 win over the Australian wild card. Mirnyi, who is also seeded second in the men's doubles, is now one win away from reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the third time in four years.

Fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian, a 2002 Wimbledon finalist, breezed into the second round with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Arnaud Clement. The reigning Tennis Masters Cup champion has not dropped a set in the tournament.

Seventh seed Mario Ancic, who looms as Roger Federer's biggest threat in the top half of the draw, made just five unforced errors in his 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Italian David Sanguinetti. Ancic reached the semifinals last year.
-- ATP