MELBOURNE - Anna Kournikova won her first Grand Slam singles match yesterday with a business-like 6-1, 6-2 victory over Slovakian Henrieta Nagyova, to the relief of her legions of male fans at the Australian Open.
The Russian blonde, who crashed to first-round defeats at all four Grand Slams last year, dismissedNagyova in just 50 minutes to set up a meeting with fifth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne in the second round.
"I was not really thinking about it [the losing streak]," Kournikova said.
"A year ago, when I came back from injury, I was [ranked] around 100. This time I am about 40, so my goal is still to get back into the top 10."
The 21-year-old, who missed eight months of the 2001 season with a foot injury, insisted that she would continue to play attacking tennis against the recently married Henin-Hardenne tomorrow.
"Obviously, Justine is a great player. She moves great and is really fast, so I really have to be focused," she said.
"But I have nothing to lose. I'll just fight for every point and have fun out there."
Florida-based Kournikova insisted that she could still be a force on the tour.
"I am getting better mentally. Definitely I can be better physically.
"Most of us are not at the same power level as Serena and Venus [Williams]. But it is not totally to do with power. You have to be smarter and use your head."
British tennis slumped to a new low yesterday when their lone singles player was eliminated four hours after the two-week tournament began.
With Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski both out injured, Britain's hopes of winning a rare Grand Slam were left with Elena Baltacha, who was born in the Ukraine but competes for Britain.
Baltacha's world ranking of 157 was not enough to get her into the tournament, but she was given a wildcard by Australian Open organisers under a reciprocal agreement between the four Grand Slam hosts.
The teenager reached the third round of Wimbledon last year, also on a wildcard, but only made it to lunchtime yesterday, losing to 15th seed Alexandra Stevenson 1-6, 4-6.
Britain play Australia next month in the first round of the Davis Cup and the signs are not good, with world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt spearheading the Australian assault.
British No 1 Henman is still in doubt, while Canadian-born Rusedski has said he will not play.
