Henin, Williams make smooth progress

Tennis:  Serena Williams signalled her intent to regain the Wimbledon crown as the number seven seed brushed past Lourdes Dominguez…

Tennis: Serena Williams signalled her intent to regain the Wimbledon crown as the number seven seed brushed past Lourdes Dominguez-Lino of Spain in straight sets on Court Two.

The so-called 'Graveyard of Champions' never looked like claiming another famous scalp as the American stepped up her game following a slow start to wrap up a 7-5 6-0 victory despite a 90-minute stoppage for rain.

Williams, 26, was victorious here in both 2002 and 2003, but has since suffered from a combination of lack of form and injury as she slipped down the rankings.

The American has been troubled by a hamstring problem recently.

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"I was doing the best I could today," she said.  "I felt a bit limited, but if things had been tougher I would have kept fighting harder and got through it.

"It \[the hamstring] is doing okay. I am just taking it a day at a time and it is getting better slowly, but surely."

Earlier on the same court, Britain's Naomi Cavaday almost pulled off a shock when she had two match points against former Wimbledon champion Martina Hingis.

However, the ninth seed fought back from losing the first set to complete a 6-7 (1-7) 7-5 6-0 victory.

In the day's other matches which made it through the rain, number one seed Justine Henin beat Jorgelina Cravero of Argentina 6-3 6-0.

Shahar Peer, the 16th seed from Israel, beat Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-5 6-2.

Australian Alicia Molik knocked out Russian Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

On Court 14, Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, the 15th seed, had a marathon match against Camille Pin of France, eventually coming through 6-1 4-6 8-6.

Schnyder had trailed 5-1 in the final set, but fought back for victory.

She said: "I played a great first set, but I just could not keep it up. Then I struggled with confidence - and it is really always up and down what I go through in grass-court matches.

"So today, it was really good to come through a difficult one."