In the gathering gloom and growing chill of another long Wimbledon evening, Anna Kournikova was bundled out of the championships by little-known French girl Anne-Gaelle Sidot.

And such was the collective groan on court one that it might have carried as far as Moscow.

The Russian golden girl went down 6-3 6-4 and there were no prizes for guessing the reaction in the Wimbledon locker room: We told you so.

For Kournikova's rivals and critics this was living proof that she is a phenomenon of style and image over substance.

She looked the part as she walked on to court a little before 7pm. The tanned legs might have been a little blue in the dipping temperatures but she could easily have been a film star, such was the reception as the flash bulbs lit up the gloom.

That is, of course, part of the reason which has fuelled the resentment in the locker room to Kournikova, one that was hinted at in Nathalie Tauziat's recent book and also at the French Open.

That and the fact that you can't walk around a street corner in London without running into an advertising hoarding carrying Kournikova's endorsement of a sports bra with the proclamation: 'Only the balls should bounce'.

Many of her colleagues resent the fact that her success and her financial well-being is based solely on her looks and figure.

This loss will only have added force to the argument that says as a tennis player she does not deserve the rabid attention which follows her every move.

After all, she has never won a singles title, let alone a grand slam trophy, and on the evidence of this performance it is unlikely she ever will.

Sidot was always going to prove a tricky opponent. She is one of the burgeoning breed of young French girls prospering from the French federation's accent on youth.

Sidot, nine places below the Russian at 28 in the world, breezed through the first set, making Kournikova look distinctly ordinary.

''Attack, attack,'' a small group of supporters chanted, but the fact is that Kournikova does not possess a genuine tennis weapon.

And when Sidot again broke the Kournikova serve in the third game of the second set even the snappers must have realised the game was up.

And so it proved as the Sidot service and all-round game proved superior to anything Kournikova could muster.

As Sidot raised her arms to the evening sky the photographers continued to snap away at a dejected Kournikova. You could almost read their thoughts - great face, shame about the game.

Wayne Ferreira admitted to having ''a bad streak in me'' after a foul-mouthed outburst during his second-round Wimbledon victory over former champion Richard Krajicek.

Millions of television viewers heard the South African launch a lengthy four-letter tirade at Buckinghamshire umpire Kim Craven at the end of the first set. Craven overruled a line judge to call Ferreira's serve out when the 28-year-old was set point down, therefore costing him the set 7-5.

Ferreira later said he regretted his actions but did not apologise to the umpire after the game.

The outburst seemed to inspire Ferreira to raise his game and he produced some superb tennis to take the second set 6-3 and level the match.

A quarter-finalist here in 1994 and a former winner at Queen's, the world number 37 took the third set as well.

The fourth set went to a tie-break and two more brilliant passing shots set up three match points followed by a service winner which saw Ferreira seal a 5-7 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7/3) win.

Krajicek had some sympathy with Ferreira's views on the line call and overruling in general, but was left to rue problems with his serve that allowed Ferreira to take control.