Steffi Graf's tears, choking on the emotion prompted by a return to the centre court at a tournament that means so much to her, offered a poignant cameo on the opening day of Wimbledon, particularly so in the light of the withdrawal of one of the pre-tournament favourites, Anna Kournikova through injury.
The former world number one twice sniffled her way through questions, briefly pausing to recapture her composure before explaining the conflict of emotions that took her from considering quitting the sport eight weeks ago to being overcome by the depth of her feelings on playing once again on the Centre court yesterday.
The past 12 months have been something of a personal nightmare, dating back to June 10th, 1997, when Graf underwent surgery to repair a fracture to the cartilage and a partial rupture of the patellar tendon. Twice during the intervening period she considered retirement.
She admitted: "The last time was seven or eight weeks ago so that is why in the beginning of the press conference I got a little emotional because I do not take it for granted being here."
When asked why having won so much she perseveres with the sport, she blinked back tears, whispering, "being out there on centre court, like today."
Graf has now dismissed the nagging doubts generated by minor injuries that frustrated her and provoking the introspection after the Indian Wells tournament. "Every week it seemed that something else came around, little strains but they kept me from playing another seven to eight days."
The rustiness of inactivity was apparent in the opening set of her clash with Spain's Gala Leon Garcia where the German's tentative play and her opponent's refusal to concede soft points made for a decent contest. Graf's performance in the second set, where her timing on the return of serve improved provided for a very one sided affair and a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Much to the chagrin of her legion of admirers, Kournikova, finally succumbed to a well publicised thumb injury and yesterday withdrew from the championships after consultation with a physician.
The 17-year-old Russian announced her decision to the world's assembled media having first informed tournament referee Alan Mills. The damage, a torn ligament in her right thumb, which will preclude her from playing for three to four weeks, occurred at the Eastbourne tournament last week.
Kournikova, having beaten Graf at Eastbourne, withdrew from the semifinal in the belief that the thumb would heal in time for Wimbledon. Although the prescribed rest certainly did ease the problem but not enough for her to compete. "I'm very sad, this is my favourite tournament. I was hoping for a miracle but it did not happen.
"It's no tennis for three weeks and then I have to do another X-ray. My main priority now is to get rid of the injury." Kournikova's misfortune ensures that "lucky loser" American Lilia Osterloh is just that and she now faces Kimberley Po.
The mercurial Mary Pierce, seeded 11, became the first high profile casualty when crashing to a 7-6 (4), 6-3 defeat to Ukranian Elena Tartarkova. A plethora of unforced errors contributed to her demise. Elsewhere Monica Seles enjoyed a winning debut on Court 1 while number two seed Linsay Davenport wasted even less time en route to the second round.
