CHESSINGTON tennis prospect Lee Childs produced one of the shocks at Wimbledon when he blew away the seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the first round on Monday (writes TONY FLOOD).

Childs, 21,who comes from Yeovil but lives in Chessington, was the lowest ranked player in the entire men's draw as he is No. 487 in the world. Yet he got lucky on court No. 13 to humble world No. 33 Davydenko 2-6, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 6-2 and gain the best win of his career.

That earned him a payday of at least £14,000 and should help him move nearer to Britain's top two, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, after starting the tournament as the UK's11th best player. And he only got to Wimbledon by winning three wild-card qualifying matches in nearby Raynes Park.

Davydenko , who had beaten Rusedski in the opening round in Paris last month, started like an express train in taking the first set. But Childs proved his mental and physical fitness following a series of injuries to win two vital tie breaks in between being blitzed in the third set.

Lee, who is sponsored by Guy Salmon Land Rover, said: "This was my first five setter but I didn't feel any pressure. And a net cord on my first match point helped."

Unfortunately, he came up against 17-year-old Spanish whizkid Rafael Nadal in the second round and crashed out 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. After losing to the youngest player in the men's event Childs admitted: "I made too many mistakes. It was a pity rain caused an hour's delay because I was 3-1 up with a break of serve in the third set."

Childs has a number of titles under his belt. He became the US Open Junior Doubles Champion in 2000 and UK National Seniors Champion in 2000 and 2001. He is a member of the LTA intermediate squad based out of Queens Club.

New Malden's Melanie South, 17, was prevented by injury from playing at Junior Wimbledon or trying to qualify for the main tournament. Melanie, ranked 26th in Britain, hurt her knee at the end of May playing in the10,000 dollar women's tournament in Croatia, but should be fit to join the LTA squad at Queens in September.