Molik and Philippoussis advance to Second Round

Australians Alicia Molik and Mark Philippoussis made successful starts to their Wimbledon campaigns overnight after they both advanced to the second round.

Molik was too experienced for 16-year-old qualifier Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei, winning 7-5 6-1, while Philippoussis outlasted Frenchman and No.32 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 7-6(12).

Qualifier Wayne Arthurs was a first round casualty, fighting hard against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro before injuring his back and going down 7-6(3) 6-3 3-6 6-1.

With Wimbledon officials playing catch-up following a nearly complete wash-out on day one, all five Australians remaining in the singles are scheduled to play on day three.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will take on Italian Filippo Volandri in their career-first meeting, while Philippoussis meets Belarussian Max Mirnyi, also for the first time.

Samantha Stosur faces a challenging opponent in talented 17-year-old Michaella Krajicek, who defeated Dinara Safina to win the Ordina Open – a key Wimbledon lead-up event.

Standing between Nicole Pratt and a place in the second round is Slovak Jarmila Gajdosova who advanced to the round of 16 at the Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts on the Gold Coast and won three successive challengers on the Kia Pro Circuit earlier this year.

Wildcard Alicia Molik holds a 3-1 win-loss advantage over No.21 seed Katarina Srebotnik, however the Slovenian won their most recent encounter in straight sets at Rome on clay in May this year. Srebotnik’s best result at Wimbledon is a third round appearance in 2005.