Whether it's lack of match play, a sore shoulder or simply a slump, Monica Seles is not the intimidating player she used to be.
The shot-making, ruthlessness and killer instinct that once were Seles' trademarks were all missing Wednesday as she suffered her earliest defeat in 18 Grand Slam tournaments.The second-seeded Seles bowed out 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round to Katarina Studenikova of Slovakia - the same player she swept 6-1, 6-1 at the Australian Open in January.
"I don't know about the other players, but I'm not afraid of her," the 59th-ranked Studenikova said.
In Thursday's early matches, Pete Sampras survived a barrage of aces and beat Mark Philippoussis in straight sets today to reach the third round.
Despite 28 aces by the 6-foot-4 Australian, the top-seeded Sampras won 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-4 to avenge a straight-sets loss to Philippoussis at the Australian Open in January.
Sampras had 15 aces of his own and was never extended to deuce on serve during the match, while breaking Philippoussis twice.
The Centre Court match featured one of the strongest displays of power tennis ever seen at Wimbledon.
Also, fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic served 21 aces to overpower French qualifier Pierre Bouteyre 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, and reach the third round.
Marc Rosset, the 14th seed, had 24 aces in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory over Andrei Olhovskiy, while Richard Krajicek served 20 to beat Derrick Rostagno 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Other men's seeds in action included No. 10 Michael Stich and No. 12 Stefan Edberg.
In women's play, No. 8 Lindsay Davenport became the fourth women's seed eliminated when she lost 6-3, 6-2 in the second round to Latvian doubles specialist Larisa Neiland.
It was Davenport's earliest defeat in four appearances at Wimbledon. She was a quarterfinalist in 1994.
Sixth-seeded Jana Novotna advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over Laurence Courtois, and No. 16 Martina Hingis won 6-1, 6-1 over British wild card Rachel Viollet.
Top-seeded defending champion Steffi Graf was matched against Nathalie Baudone of Italy, while No. 3 Conchita Martinez played Lisa Raymond.
Seles, normally the player who dictates the points, was almost always on the defensive. Instead of attacking and taking risks, she played safe on key points. And, maybe most surprising of all, she blew a 4-2 lead in the decisive set.
"I just felt I wasn't going for my shots," Seles said. "I was waiting for her to make the errors and she wasn't doing that. I wasn't attacking. It's probably a similar pattern to the French."
Seles' vulnerability showed at the French Open earlier this month when she lost meekly in straight sets in the quarterfinals to Jana Novotna.
"It just comes down to close points," she said. "I have to go for them like I did before, really fiercely, and that's not what I'm doing right now."
With six of the top 10 men's seeds already out, the draw has opened up nicely for No. 2 Boris Becker. The former three-time champion won't have to face a seed until the semifinals, where his highest seeded opponent would be No. 11 Wayne Ferreira.
"It's a tournament where you always have big surprises and upsets in the first week because it's just so different from any other tournament," Becker said.
Seles was playing Wimbledon for the first time since 1992, when she lost in the final to Graf. She was absent for three years after being stabbed in 1993.
After winning the Australian Open in January, Seles was sidelined for nearly four months with a tear in the socket of her left shoulder. Some rustiness showed Wednesday.
"Obviously I don't think the consistency of my game is there, because I can play great some matches and play terribly some matches," she said. "I'm not too happy with the way I've been playing, but I just have to reassess where I made the mistakes and try to learn from them and just go on. I mean, that's all I can do."
Seles is still entered in the women's doubles with Betsy Nagelsen.