Henman and Williams ease wounded pride

Serena Williams and Tim Henman soothed wounded pride at Wimbledon today but there were contrasting fortunes for two of the top…

Serena Williams and Tim Henman soothed wounded pride at Wimbledon today but there were contrasting fortunes for two of the top three men's seeds, Andy Roddick and Guillermo Coria.

Women's defending champion Serena ensured she did not follow older sister Venus out of the tournament by beating French qualifier Stephanie Foretz 6-0 6-4 in the second round.

Third seed Venus was upset 7-6 7-6 by Croatian Karolina Sprem yesterday and today the umpire who made a scoring error in the second set tie-break of that game was told by organisers he would take no further part in the tournament.

Serena gave a ruthless display on court one to put the 135th-ranked Foretz firmly in her place and set up a third round match against Magui Serna of Spain.

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The English were nursing sore heads after the national soccer team's painful Euro 2004 exit against Portugal last night and Henman, after a sluggish start, provided the lift the home nation needed on Centre Court.

Swiss qualifier Ivo Heuberger led 5-3 in the first set before Henman clicked into gear and raced away to a 7-5 6-3 6-2 victory under sporadic sunshine.

Henman is still on course for a fourth round showdown with last year's runner-up, Australian Mark Philippoussis. The 11th seed lost the first set against Dutchman Martin Verkerk but recovered to win 4-6 6-3 7-6 7-5.

Men's second seed Roddick set up a high-octane clash with compatriot Taylor Dent in the third round when he flayed Austria's Alexander Peya 6-3 7-6 6-4.

The US Open champion fired 13 aces at speeds of up to 144 miles per hour (231.7 kph) in an accomplished display, although he is likely to face a dose of his own medicine against heavy-serving Dent.

Third seed Coria, however, was sent packing by German debutant Florian Mayer.

The French Open runner-up, a clay specialist who had never won a match on grass before this year, lost 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-4 in a second round surprise on court 18.

Another early winner was French women's fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo. She thumped American Jennifer Hopkins 6-3 6-3, while Argentine ninth seed Paola Suarez and Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova also advanced.