Oh I say, the hemlines are shorter than ever at Wimbledon this year

By Emily Andrews and Paul Harris

The Centre Court crowd may have seen a little more than they bargained for yesterday, as the women's game reached a new high - in terms of hemlines at least. 

Catching the eye with their outfits rather than their tennis were Stefanie Voegele and Maria Kirilenko, who wore particularly skimpy outfits, showing off their toned thighs - and a little more besides - in the first round. 


Kirilenko, the 27th seed from Russia, eventually beat the Swiss world number 87 in three sets. 


Ana Ivanovic, who has been voted world's sexiest tennis player five times, was the sole exception to the rule, stepping out in white leggings beneath her Adidas minidress.

High hopes: Stefanie Voegele (up) and Maria Kirilenko (down) in super-short dresses at Wimbledon yesterday

This was not a decision prompted by insecurity or modesty though. The Serb was thought to be protesting about the fact that she was playing on Court Five and that the match didn't start until after 7.30pm. 


The former world No 1 was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Israel's Shahar Peer, who is 30 places above her in the WTA rankings - only the second time she has fallen at the first hurdle in a Grand Slam event. 


British hope Laura Robson faced the fourth seed on Centre Court yesterday - something that would be enough to put most of us off our forehand – and our backhand – never mind the serve. 

Short story: Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, the Czech Republic's Andrea Hlavackova and Russia's Regina Kulikova all bared their legs on court yesterday

But although the 16-year-old battled fearlessly against Jelena Jankovic, she lost in straight sets in Wimbledon's first round yesterday. And the teenager wasn't the only British woman to fail. 


All four crashed out, leaving Andy Murray as the best hope to carry the flag for the nation. 


Many had pinned their hopes on Laura, the former junior champion, to capitalise on her rise to top-level tennis. And she was determined to make the most of her Centre Court debut. 

Defeated: Golden girl Laura Robson is out on the first day at Wimbledon

But she soon found out that pluckiness is no substitute for experience. After her defeat at the hands of the 23-year-old Serb, she said: 'She's no. four in the world for a reason, she played well. 'I thought [playing on Centre] was going to be a lot more overwhelming, but the court's not as big as it seems on TV. 

'I was a lot more nervous when I woke up yesterday morning and then when I got into the court I was just trying to focus on not losing 6-0 6-0.' 


Laura has only just finished her schooling – and is not even full-time on the professional circuit yet. But she has vowed to make tennis her 'number one priority' so she can win Wimbledon one day. 


'Ideally I would have liked to have won it this year, but that's obviously not going to happen,' she added. The youngster, 232 places in the rankings below her opponent, played with panache. 


Although she lost the first set 6-3, in the second set, she broke her opponent's serve and took her to a tiebreak before losing it 7-6. As a first-round loser, she takes away £11,250 to add to her career winnings of £56,150. 


But although an older player might cheer herself up with some retail therapy, Laura is unlikely to do so. Her parents keep her prize money safe and are 'very much' in control so she can't spend it. 


Elena Baltacha, 26, was favourite to beat Croatia's Petra Martic. She served for the match in the second set, but she was defeated by the player 24 places lower in the rankings.

Melanie South, 24, lost 6-1 6-2 to world no. 69 Regina Kulikova. Katie O'Brien, 24, lost 6-3, 6-7, 64 to 28th seed Alona Bondarenko.

Tens of thousands of fans flocked to the All England Club for a humid opening day's tennis.

Some had camped out for three days to be at the front of the queue that snaked through SW19, and if they were hoping to enjoy a strawberry they were soon put off with the price of £2.50 for a little punnet. 

And hopes of cheering on British top women's players to victory soon evaporated in the heat of a June afternoon.