Wimbledon 99: Pioline establishes himself as dark horse

DESPITE OCCASIONAL appearances to the contrary, no male competitor at Wimbledon is daft enough to disregard Cedric Pioline just because he was ranked 52nd in the world. After the Nottingham Open only the bold would.

The Frenchman won his third ATP Tour title on Saturday when he comfortably disposed of the Zimbabwean qualifier Kevin Ullyett 6-4, 7-5 in the final and immediately stabled himself as a dark horse Wimbledon seeds would rather not meet.

Pioline, a finalist two years ago, plays Martin Damm in the first round and then is scheduled to meet the third seed, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, in the third.

The Russian does not have an outstanding record at Wimbledon, and despite a disparity in rankings, it would not be a shock if that part of the draw is opened up.

Pioline, certainly, is confident and with reason. Until he surrendered the second game against Ullyett with a double fault, he had not lost his service at Nottingham and anyone who can belt the ball down as a starter for negotiations has a chance on the fast grass of the All England Club.

"I think I'm playing as well as I did in 1997 and with luck there is no reason why I can't go all the way again," he said. "I only dropped my serve once which shows I'm playing consistent tennis."

It also reveals a degree of control because last year Pioline was in disgrace after being defaulted at Nottingham for foul language. This time the only swearing came from opponents trying to bar his elegant and forceful path to the pounds 36,000 first prize.

Only the wind, which billowed round Centre Court and made serving difficult initially, pinned him back but once he had adjusted, he always looked superior to Ullyett, whose lowly world ranking of 574 will improve by more than 100 places because of his work at Nottingham - winning three qualifying matches to even make the main draw.

From 2-0 down, Pioline won six of the next eight games to take the first set and, after missing a break point in the 10th game of the second, he needed only one of two match points in the 12th.

"It was very nice to win here after what happened last year," Pioline said. "That was a very bad moment for me but this time I was determined to focus and keep my concentration. I have been playing well for the last few months and I will be going to Wimbledon next week with a lot of confidence."

Pioline, who beat Greg Rusedski in semi-finals, was at Nottingham as a wild card after losing in the quarter-finals at Queen's left him short of preparation on grass. "I had not even thought about entering until last week," he admitted, "but I am glad I did because it is always very satisfying to win a title no matter how big or small."

Pioline, 30 last Tuesday, has also won in Prague and Copenhagen and has been in a dozen more finals. By contrast, this was Ullyett's first final on the tour and he would have become the lowest-ranked player to win one had he pressed home his early advantage.