Revengeful kickoff for Sania, Paes-Damm seeded fifth at Wimbledon

London, June 22 (UNI) Revenge is what Sania Mirza will be aiming for when she kickstarts her Wimbledon campaign against Russian Yoraslava Shvedova, who last halted the Hyderabadi lass' run at the Quarter-finals of the Bangalore Open early this year.

However, Sania will have to shrug off her second round exit at the French Open to eventual finalist Ana Ivanovic, when she adapts herself to the grasscourts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club here.

Yoraslava, currently ranked 80 in the world got the better of Sania 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the Banglore Open last February.

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm have been seeded fifth with a relatively easy first round match agaisnt unseeded pair of Chris Haggard of South Africa and Polish Marcin Matkowski.

French Open semi-finalist Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek will take on Christopher Kas of Germany and Austraian Alexander Peya in their round one clash. Bhupathi and Czech's Stepanek are seeded 11th.

Paes will gain inspiration from the fact that he reached the semi-finals here last year but this year, he crashed out of the third round at the Australian Open and the second round at the French Open.

Defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland and Justine Henin of Belgium have been seeded top in the men's and women's sections respectively.

The Championships to be held from June 25, also has French Open champion and last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal seeded second.

Sania's record here has not been very impressive after she won the Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. She progressed into the second round in the 2005 edition while she failed to get beyond the first round the following year.

The tennis ace yesterday said she is banking on the substantial expatriate Indians' support to regain her lost touch in Wimbledon which, she claims, 'suits my game'.

''Wimbledon suits my game. I think I get more support here when I play because there are so many Indians out there and I think during that season a lot of people are visiting England as well,'' said the world number 46.

The maximum distance she got in a Grand Slam was at the US Open in 2005, where she reached the fourth round.

The heat is on Sania, who clearly cannot pass on the two-month long injury layoff excuse at the Wimbledon, especially after her ordinary show at Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old said she is so comfortable playing at Wimbledon that ''it almost feels like you're playing in (home) India.'' UNI