KEY POINTS:
This year's women's ASB Classic might not be much of a tournament for underdogs.
Such was the instant popularity of major drawcard Lindsay Davenport yesterday, it's hard to imagine the hapless souls she seems certain to sweep aside in the days ahead receiving much of a sympathy vote.
Davenport really is as sweet as that American culinary classic, apple pie. Until the balls start flying, that is.
A bee foolishly buzzed around her during the warm-up for yesterday's straightforward, straight-sets demolition of fellow American Laura Granville.
Davenport's first reaction was a playful warning shot. When the bee persisted, she finished the argument with a neat forehand swipe.
Granville was swatted away with similar ease.
"It is a tough way to start off the year," a dejected Granville said after the match. "She is such a great player. She hits such a big ball that you can't really get into points."
Having broken Granville in the first game of the match, Davenport proceeded to win her first three service games without dropping a point.
The biggest difference between Davenport and most of the other players on display yesterday was that they used their serves to start points. More often than not, she used hers to finish them.
Granville, an experienced pro in her sixth year at the event, went down 6-2 in the first set.
Between games, Davenport studied her nails, oblivious to the hundreds of sets of eyes fastened upon her. Like most of the greats, she looked utterly at home in her chosen arena.
Her most impressive shots, flashing cross-court forehands, brought strange gasps from the crowd - a bit like a cross between Keith Quinn's famous "oh" when Jonah Lomu ran over Mike Catt at the 1995 World Cup and the noise most people would make when witnessing a newborn foal taking its first steps.
The second set was more competitive as Davenport seemed to tire. From 3-1 down, Granville rallied to 3-3 before Davenport refocused and put the match to bed 6-3.
There was no Tiger Woods-style fist pumping from Davenport to mark the passing of match point. No reaction at all in fact. It wasn't until the crowd rose to applaud her that her trademark smile appeared.
"It was a lot of fun," she said, as she towered over interviewer Geoff Bryan courtside.
"I really enjoyed myself. The first game of the season is always tough."
Not as tough as it was for Granville, who came a long way to draw Davenport in the first round.
"That's just the way it goes," she said.
"I've been playing for six years and you get tough draws and good ones."
Granville played Davenport twice before her post-childbirth comeback, with similar results, so she was pretty well placed to assess her form.
"I was actually really impressed by her movement. She was hitting the ball great. If anything, she probably made less mistakes [than earlier in her career]. I was really impressed.
"I wanted to move around and mix up the pace a bit, but it is really hard because she puts you on the defence right away. It was hard to be aggressive and take control of a lot of the points.
"Against a player like Lindsay, you only have a few opportunities. If you don't take them, that's it."
