TENNIS in DEPTH.

Sam Stosur crashed out of Wimbledon at the first hurdle in a straight-sets defeat by Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi.

World number six Stosur, 26, a runner-up in the French Open final in May, went out 6-4 6-4 to a player ranked 74 places below her in the world.

It looked like Stosur might survive when she saved three match points to hold her serve at 5-3 in the second.

But Kanepi saved break points in the next before holding on for victory.

Stosur’s shock early loss follows the departure of the woman who beat in Paris last month, Francesca Schiavone – making this the first Championships in which both Roland Garros finalists have gone out in the first round.

Fifth-seeded Italian Schiavone remains the biggest casualty in the women’s draw so far after losing in three sets to Russian Vera Dushevina on Monday.

Seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska eased into the second round with a straight-sets victory over Hungarian Melinda Czink.

World number nine Radwanska, who has lost at the quarter-final stage in the last two years, advanced 6-3 6-3.

Flavia Pennetta, seeded 10th, also enjoyed a straightforward passage against Anabel Medina Garrigues.

After battling to a 6-4 first-set victory, Pennetta totally overran the unseeded Spaniard 6-0 in the second.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2005 finalist, was forced to go the distance against Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova.

The 19th-seeded Russian easily won the opener 6-2 but lost 5-7 in a second-set tie-break before avoiding a surprise exit by taking the decider 6-4.

Chinese 23rd seed Jie Zheng, meanwhile, overcame France’s Pauline Parmentier 7-5 6-4.

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It is the subject of some light-hearted discord in the Roddick household that Brooklyn Decker has beaten her husband in the race to make the cover of America’s prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine.

Andy Roddick’s model wife appeared on the front of the publication earlier this year – a much sought claim to fame in American sports culture – as part of its famed annual swimwear issue.

The country’s leading male tennis star still awaits the honour (so, contentiously, does Roger Federer), but knows that as a US player he was within a few points of gaining that recognition in what was another classic Wimbledon final last year.

Had he taken his break opportunities in the fifth set he would surely have secured victory and with it a place on the cover, only to lose 16-14 to the remarkable Swiss champion.

‘Trust me, that fact hasn’t been lost on her,’ admits Roddick with a smile. ‘She gave me a little c**p. I said to her after the final – well, it was actually three or four days afterwards when I had actually started speaking again – “You’re gonna get on the cover before me!” That was one of the things I was bitter about.’

Roddick, 27, is employing his well-honed sense of irony and is, in fact, completely over what was a shattering defeat, although he concedes that he was ‘heartbroken’ in the aftermath.

Having beaten Andy Murray in the semi-finals, he knows just how close he was to adding to his solitary Grand Slam title, the 2003 US Open.

When he says worse things can happen than losing a tennis match, he can expand beyond the cliche: ‘It’s a matter of perspective. My worst day, most heartbreaking loss, is a lot of people’s best day. I had the Centre Court of Wimbledon chanting my name afterwards, that’s a great thing. It was a lot tougher to take being that close than when I was in the 2005 final, when I lost in straight sets.’

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“Everything was pretty straightforward,” Williams said. “I’ve been practicing on grass since Wednesday, so I had a good feel for it. I was ready to go for it.”

Williams, who made headlines around the world in Paris with her ‘illusion’ dress, wore another unique design Monday, though nowhere near as eyebrow-raising.

“Here it’s all about white. There’s no illusion this time,” Williams said. “My dress was inspired by Tina Turner. She’s an amazing, amazing artist. She’s a survivor – she reinvented herself. Plus she looks great. I’ve loved her forever.”

Next up for Williams is Ekaterina Makarova, a 64 76(2) winner over Agnes Szavay. Makarova is fresh off her first title at Eastbourne last week – so she has built momentum on grass. They will be playing for the first time.

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Marin Cilic became the first big-name casualty of Wimbledon 2010 when he lost in the first round, but Nikolay Davydenko narrowly avoided joining him through the exit door.

The 11th-seeded Croat, a semi-finalist at this year’s Australian Open and rated as a dark horse by some in SW19, slumped to a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Florian Mayer.

The German triumphed 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7/1) at the All England Club.

Mayer reached the quarter-finals on his Wimbledon debut back in 2004 and will be hopeful of another good run after this result.

Davydenko, meanwhile, had to dig deep before finally seeing off Kevin Anderson in a five-set thriller which lasted more than four hours.

The Russian enjoyed his last visit to London – he won the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena last November – but it appeared his return was turning sour when he fell two sets down to the big-serving South African, who finished with 36 aces.

Davydenko only recently returned to the tour after suffering a broken wrist earlier in the year and he looked a little rusty in the opening exchanges.

But he showed plenty of character to turn the match round, much to the delight of the crowd on Court One, and he recovered to post a 3-6 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 9-7 victory.

Novak Djokovic recovered from an early onslaught by Olivier Rochus and a mid-match closing of the Centre Court roof to book his place in the Wimbledon second round on Monday.

Djokovic, who trailed 3-1 in career meetings against the feisty 5-ft-5 Belgian, looked set for an early exit after Rochus’s crisp groundstrokes and shrewd shot placement gave him a two sets to one lead.

But Djokovic seemed reinvigorated once fading light prompted the closure of the roof after the third set and clinched the fourth before going on to seal a 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2 triumph.

The Serb will play American Taylor Dent in the second round.

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British teenager Laura Robson lost in straight sets to fourth seed Jelena Jankovic on her Centre Court debut despite an encouraging display.

Robson came under pressure on serve early on but settled well in the second set and tested Jankovic before the Serb sealed a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory.

Kim Clijsters marked her first Wimbledon appearance since 2006 with a 6-0 6-3 demolition of unseeded Italian Maria Elena Camerin.

Clijsters, playing her third Grand Slam event since coming out of retirement in 2009, took the first set in 24 minutes.

The eighth seed was made to work hard in the second but came through to seal the win.

Ana Ivanovic, wearing a pair of her Father’s longjohns under her designer dress, was no match for Shahar Peer as she lost 6-3, 6-4. It was another first round exit for the troubled Serb, and she must be wondering what she can do to change direction. Watching her play it’s hard to believe that she actually won the French Open.

 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone is out after losing 6-7 (0-7) 7-5 6-1 to Russia’s Vera Dushevina.

The fifth seed has not enjoyed the best of records at Wimbledon, but reached the quarter-finals last year.

However, despite a positive start, she struggled with her timing and was eventually outplayed by Dushevina, who is ranked 56th in the world.

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Defending champion Roger Federer came back from the brink as he narrowly avoided becoming the casualty of the greatest upset in Wimbledon history.

Federer was two sets down to unheralded Alejandro Falla and the Colombian then served for the match in the fourth set before losing 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7/1) 6-0.

Only two defending champions had ever lost in the first round at the All England Club and Federer had to use all his fighting spirit to avoid becoming the third.

The six-time champion, looking to equal Pete Sampras’ record of seven this year, was not at his brilliant best but was far from shabby.

Falla, on the other hand, played the match of his life, Federer describing his performance later as “incredible”.

The left-hander more than lived with Federer from the back of the court, looked a threat when he came to the net, while his swinging serve out wide to the backhand was a constant problem – a worrying sign for Federer if he now goes on to meet Rafael Nadal in the final.

Certainly he seemed to be a different player from the one who had lost 6-1 6-2 to Federer in Halle less than a fortnight ago.

The first set had seemed destined for a tie-break before Falla gained a surprise break in the 11th game courtesy of a deep volley.

The man ranked 60th in the world had served for the first set against the Swiss at the recent French Open only to choke but that was not the case this time.

The crowd on Centre Court expected Federer to raise his level in the second set but we wasn’t actually playing that badly.

Falla was having few problems dealing with Federer’s renowned serve though and the fans really began to sense an upset when the Colombian broke in the sixth game.

He shows signs of nerves when serving for a two-set lead at 5-4.

Three set points were missed – and two break points saved – before the set was finally clinched, Falla putting away a volley with his opponent having been dragged out of court.

Surprisingly, Falla then called for the trainer for treatment on a groin injury, but it didn’t stop him contining his sparkling form.

Despite the trainer returning at each change of ends, the set progressed on serve to 4-4 at which point Federer stood at the precipice.

He fell 0-40 down only to save all three break points – plus a fourth – before holding, converting game point following a thrilling net exchange at deuce.

Federer made Falla pay for mising his chance by breaking him for the first time in the match in the very next game to reduce the deficit to two sets to one.

Many expected the Swiss to roll on through the rest of the match but such thoughts were soon put to one side as Falla broke in the opening game of the fourth set.

Things progressed on serve to 5-4 at which point Falla stepped up to serve for arguably the biggest upset in the tournament’s 133-year history.

But he was to fail.

Federer forced two break points, taking the second with a trademark crunching forehand.

The top seed dominated the ensuing tie-break to forced a decider, one which turned out to be something of a non-event.

Federer immediately broke serve as Falla’s level dropped considerably.

The Swiss star pushed on to win it to love, finally booking his place in the second round after almost three and a half hours on Centre Court.

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When Rafael Nadal describes the All England Club as the venue of the “nicest tennis tournament in the world”, it sums up why the top players down the generations regard the Wimbledon Championships as the pinnacle of the calender.

Nadal was not renowned for his grass-court prowess until two years ago, when he won the London warm-up event at Queen’s Club and then disposed of Roger Federer in a memorable Centre Court final.

If he was not in love with the most famous arena in the game before that epic, five-set triumph in near darkness, he is now.

“This tournament is very special,” Nadal said. “This is true for everybody because it is the nicest tournament in the world.

“For me it was always a special ambition to play well here. I did that for three years and finally won. So to be here brings back very nice memories.

“It is always a pleasure to be at this very beautiful club.”

Wimbledon, despite being perceived as a stickler for tradition, has had a happy knack over the years of winning over its more sceptical visitors. While Nadal, clearly more at home in his formative years on the red clay of European courts, was a relatively easy convert,

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Rafa Nadal believes he can win Wimbledon this year, despite the injury problems that prevented him defending his title in 2009.

The Spaniard said last night: ‘Roger Federer starts as favourite but I’m back to my best level again now, so I feel good.

‘Even when I wasn’t totally fit, I was reaching semi-finals and that gave me the confidence to believe that when I returned to full fitness, I could reach finals and win them. That is my attitude going into Wimbledon.

‘I am very happy about the season. I am probably playing one of my best seasons, my level has been high in all my tournaments and I am healthy.’

Nadal starts against Japan’s Kei Nishikori but warned that he will be taking nothing for granted.

He said: ‘He is a very good player, even though he has been out for a while with injury.

I think he has the potential to be in the top 10 if he is healthy and he is still improving a little bit. I know it is going to be a difficult match.’

But it is Nadal’s rivalry with Federer that every tennis fan is eager to see revived on grass.

And that rivalry has been spiced up further still by Spain’s shock defeat by Federer’s Switzerland at the football World Cup. Nadal said Federer had been typically modest in victory and had refused to gloat.

‘We are both sporting on the inside and outside,’ he explained. ‘I just saw him and congratulated him on the football.’

Nadal would dearly love to take revenge at Wimbledon on behalf of the Spanish. For now, however, he just needs to focus on getting used to the surface again.

He warned: ‘It is hard to defend on this surface because when you run into one corner it is very difficult to come back. During the second week it becomes more like clay. But it is especially difficult during the first few days.’

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