Mario Ancic

By John Parsons

Goran Ivanisevic may be missing from Wimbledon this year, but his 18-year-old Croatian protege created the first big upset of The Championships on Centre Court last night.

Playing not only his first match at Wimbledon, but also his first in any of the Grand Slams, Mario Ancic, a 6ft 4in right-handed qualifier, produced a stunning performance to defeat the seventh-seeded Roger Federer, the gifted Swiss player tipped by many to win the title, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

Despite the endorsement he had received from Ivanisevic, the champion who had tipped him as the newcomer to watch, and despite a similarity in some of their mannerisms and droll sense of humour, Ancic is hardly a Goran Ivanisevic Mark II.

While Ivanisevic's tennis has so often ranged from the brilliant to the banal, Ancic was a model of concentration from start to finish.

Only at the end, when he stood punching his fists into the air while the crowd gave him a standing ovation, did the youngster who was runner-up in the boys' singles here two years ago show any Goran-style emotion.

Ivanisevic, who has partnered Ancic in Davis Cup and Olympic doubles, has had a huge influence on his tennis. For the past four years Ancic has been coached by Bob Brett, who has clearly been more successful in channelling Ancic's energy in a positive manner than he was during his years working with last year's champion.

There were times when Federer looked utterly bewildered, unable to cope with Ancic's powerful onslaught. For all his natural talent, it was another example of how brittle Federer, Wimbledon junior champion in 1988, can still sometimes be.

He has now lost in the first round of both the French Open and Wimbledon, and while Ancic can look ahead to a second-round match against Jan Vacek, of the Czech Republic, Federer and his coach, Peter Lundgren, will have to digest the statistics which showed that he was beaten in all aspects of an astonishing match lasting an hour and 40 minutes.

Earlier the top-seeded world champion, Lleyton Hewitt, had resisted what he had expected would be a major challenge from Jonas Bjorkman, beating the Swede in straight sets while Britain's Tim Henman thrilled the Court No 1 crowd and thousands more watching the large screen on "Henman Hill" with an impressively thorough 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of French qualifier Jean-Franois Bachelot.

Meanwhile officials yesterday lodged a complaint with the BBC over their decison to show an interview in which Anna Kournikova had a tantrum shortly after she had been knocked out of the tournament.

Chris de Maria, vice-president of communication for the Womens' Tennis Association, said: "Anna was upset and she has spoken to our people. We feel it was inappropriate because she had got up to end the interview and started again but they showed the whole thing. It was not necessary."