OH, WHAT a fickle lot we men are; with Anna Cor!nikova enjoying a day's rest and recreation away from prying eyes in the private company of boyfriend Sergei Federov, the swarm of teenage boys who comprise Wimbledon's Babewatch patrol prowled the outside courts in search of an alternative object of desire .

If Kournikova is Brigitte Bardot in whites, then her Russian compatriot, Lina Krasnoroutskaya, is Meg Ryan; a startlingly blue-eyed elfin who pouts, struts and preens as if born to the spotlight. She may be but 16, but here is tennis's next diva-in-waiting. No wonder that when she slipped and injured a thigh, a cacophony of male voices insisted: "Let me through, I'm a doctor".

Three years younger than Anna K, Lina K succumbed to the experienced Dutch- woman, Miriam Oremans, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Court 9, then paid due homage to her pin-up role model, explaining: "Thanks to Anna, tennis has become hugely popular among young girls in Russia, because she is so very beautiful . . . of course, she is not the only one."

Krasnoroutskaya's game is as beautiful as she looks. She mixes thumping groundstrokes with gossamer-soft drop shots and devastatingly disguised lobs, and many are they within the sport who believe she will ultimately become a greater threat to Martina Hingis's position of world No 1 than her glamour-conscious rival.

Although the increasingly gossip-minded Russian press tend to devote most of their attention to the off-court antics of Kournikova , Krasnoroutskaya has an actress's knack of providing attention-grabbing soundbites. Quizzed by one Muscovite interviewer if she was as innocent in her private life as on court, she replied mischievously: "Why do you think I am like this? I am very experienced, you know." At which point her doubles partner and friend, Anastasia Myskina, piped up: "Lina may look very innocent, but she's not."

Lina still knows how to blush, however. When the subject turned to Russian Marat Safin, who is something of a heartthrob in the women's locker-room, Krasnoroutskaya was asked if he was as popular with the girls back home as was Kournikova with the boys. "Very, very, very . . ." she managed before reddening and collapsing in giggles.