WIMBLEDON NOTEBOOK : Tournament Gets Off to a Low-Pressure Start

Oddly, opening day at Wimbledon was without controversy or ruckus--certainly nothing of the tabloid-fodder variety.

The only mildly titillating discussion was of the new balls in use for the first time this year. The balls are filled to a lower pressure, making them softer and slower. Even though most players have been practicing with them, Monday was the first time they have been used in a tournament.

Wimbledon officials, who usually make decisions at glacial speed, introduced the new balls in some haste. While their counterparts at the French Open have pondered how to make clay court baseline duels more dynamic, Wimbledon officials have been trying to slow the speed of play and lengthen the points.

Players took the change with surprising equanimity. Serve-and-volley meister Pete Sampras--the player the change was intended to affect--said he didn’t mind.

“They are definitely softer,” he said. “If anything, I think these softer balls will affect the guys who don’t serve as well. While last year a mediocre serve would be helped out by a harder ball, this year it’s a little softer, so you have a little bit more time to return.”

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Add Sampras: He spoke at length about his great comfort level here, causing an American reporter to ask if he, like the bejeweled football-baseball star Deion Sanders, would go so far as to say of Centre Court: “This is my house.”

Sampras recoiled and snapped, “I have nothing in common with Deion Sanders.”

True. Except for their huge endorsement contracts with the same shoe company.

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Lisa Raymond advanced Monday, beating Julie Pullin of Great Britain, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5).

Far more exciting for her was a match last week, when she played doubles with Martina Navratilova at the Eastbourne tournament.

Navratilova is retired from singles competition but will play some doubles. She is entered here in a much-anticipated pairing with Steffi Graf.

Raymond, who usually plays doubles with Lindsay Davenport in relative obscurity, said the attention brought on by Navratilova’s presence was almost more than she could bear.

“When I came on the court, it was like walking out with a rock star,” she said. “There were photographers lined up on both sides of the walkway. I wanted to walk out with our opponents because I was so embarrassed to walk out with Martina.”

They lost.

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The only seeded player to lose Monday was 12th-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands. Bryan Shelton of the Bahamas beat Krajicek, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3.