Navratilova achieves victory for nostalgia

When H G Wells wrote The Time Machine, he probably did not envisage anyone using his contraption in Eastbourne. But 3,000 spectators on the centre court at Devonshire Park certainly had their own version yesterday, and it helped them see Martina Navratilova reproduce some of her best form in her first tour-level singles match for nearly eight years.

Navratilova's 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Tatiana Panova showed that even four months off her 46th birthday she has lost little of her agility at the net. The reflexes are somewhat jerkier, and she was noticeably the slower of the two players, but her angled volleys and use of the sliced approach shot formed an exemplary demonstration of a bygone style, one which the 25-year-old Russian was clearly unprepared for.

Quite who benefits from this nostalgic victory is hard to know. The tournament organisers – who hoped until a ludicrously late date that Lindsay Davenport would put down her crutches and offer Eastbourne a star name – took a gamble in inviting the nine-times Wimbledon champion to play her first singles match since November 1994, and her first on grass since losing the 1994 Wimbledon final to Conchita Martinez. For them it has paid off, and today's order of play offers further fascination as Navratilova takes on a player more than 26 years her junior, the third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova.

It is also good for Navratilova's reputation as arguably the greatest-ever female player, but how good it is for the standing of women's tennis to have a 45-year-old beating the 22nd best player in the world?

Though they would never admit it publicly, officials of the Sanex WTA Tour might have preferred a crushing victory for the Russian. And after the first game it looked possible, as Navratilova began so nervously she seemed lost on the court. But after breaking back for 1-1, she settled down and played five brilliant games to take the first set in 26 minutes.

Panova broke at the start of the second and held the break up to 5-3 when Navratilova broke back, only for Panova to break again for 6-4.

After four long games in the third, Navratilova broke for 3-2, held serve for 4-2, and at that point it could have been 1976, the year of Panova's birth, as Navratilova ran the show with her sliced backhand. After an hour and 37 minutes she was through to the second round.

* The No 1 seed Andy Roddick lost in the first round of the Samsung Open in Nottingham yesterday. The 19-year-old world No 15 lost in straight sets to the former champion Jonas Bjorkman.