Tennis / Wimbledon -- No. 1 Martina Hingis Upset By 16-Year-Old

WIMBLEDON, England - This time there were no tears for Martina Hingis, who simply walked off the court dazed in defeat.

In one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon's 113-year history, Hingis lost 6-2, 6-0 today in the opening round to Jelena Dokic, a 16-year-old qualifier ranked 129th.

The world's top-ranked woman was playing her first singles match since her emotional collapse at the French Open final. But there was no repeat of her petulant display.

Instead, Hingis left the court with a vacant, stoic expression. At a news conference she even managed a smile.

"It happens to everybody sometimes," she said. "I'm not that disappointed."

The result was a stunner, even though Dokic was the top-ranked junior last year before turning professional. She has been touted as a potential star, and her mixture of baseline power and drop shots overwhelmed Hingis.

Boris Becker nearly made a hasty exit, too. The three-time Wimbledon champion overcame three match points in the fourth set to beat wild-card Miles Maclagan 5-7, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in four hours.

Becker announced his retirement two years ago from Grand Slam competition but decided to make one more try at the All England Club.

Andre Agassi swept Andrei Pavel 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. Agassi hopes to become the first man since 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

Dokic (pronounced DAH-kick), a Yugoslav-born Australian, had to win three qualifying matches just get here. She swept the final 11 games and completed her victory in 54 minutes, showing no sign of nervousness.

"You'd expect me to be, but I wasn't," Dokic said. "There's no pressure to win. I've been playing well, and I just went for it."

This was only the third time the top-seeded woman was eliminated in her opening match at Wimbledon - the others were Margaret Smith in 1962 and Steffi Graf in 1994.

It was also the third time during the Open era that a top-seeded woman has lost an opening match of a Grand Slam event.

There was one more first - Hingis played a major match without her mother there.

"This tournament we decided to have a little distance," said the 18-year-old Swiss. "I was probably too nervous, not much believing what I could do. I wanted to do it; it didn't work out this time."

Her mother, Melanie Molitor, doubles as coach. Hingis said they're still close and she's not looking for another coach, but she will take four or five weeks off.

Hingis looked rattled at times but avoided a repeat of the French Open final against Graf. In that match she walked to the other side of the court to question calls, served underhand near the finish, drew jeers from the crowd and sobbed afterward on her mother's shoulder.

Hingis was the first seeded player eliminated this week. No. 5 Jana Novotna, coming back from an ankle injury in the French Open, began defense of her 1998 title by beating Shi-Ting Wang 6-2, 6-1. No. 3 Lindsay Davenport and No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario also won.

In a match that took two days to complete, Jennifer Capriati edged Anke Huber 5-7, 6-3, 9-7. The match was suspended yesterday at 5-5 in the third set because of darkness.

No seeded man has lost yet. No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat Magnus Larsson 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-5 in a match suspended yesterday at 5-5 in the final set.

1996 champion Richard Krajicek, seeded fifth, hit 20 aces and swept Christian Ruud 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. No. 2 Patrick Rafter beat Cristiano Caratti 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 10 Goran Ivanisevic, a three-time runner-up, slammed 23 aces to beat Mikael Tillstrom 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.