Banishing early stormclouds, Roger Federer [Images] and Lleyton Hewitt [Images] thundered through to the second round of Wimbledon [Images] on Monday.

The afternoon sun which bathed south-west London [Images] after a damp start to the opening day also heralded victories for Lindsay Davenport [Images], Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters [Images] on the All England [Images] Club's lush green lawns.

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Champion Federer raced into the second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu.

"Definitely a good start to the tournament," said Federer who is seeking a third straight Wimbledon title.

"There's always something special when you come back and try to defend the Wimbledon championship.

"I'm definitely very happy to have done that ... very important first step."

Federer, who clattered 18 aces past his French opponent, was joined in the second round by the man he considers a main rival for his crown, 2002 champion Hewitt.

The Australian baseliner wasted no time sweeping aside Belgium's Christophe Rochus 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in 92 minutes.

"It was a good hit out without wasting too much energy," was Hewitt's verdict. The world number two is seeded to meet Federer in the semi-finals.

Women's top seed Lindsay Davenport thrashed Russia's [Images] Alina Jidkova 6-0, 6-2 and third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo beat Hungary's Melinda Czink 6-3, 6-2.

CONFIDENCE INTACT

Mauresmo, who has never won a grand slam singles title, said her confidence had not been dented by an early loss at the Eastbourne warm-up event.

"I was still pretty confident about my game and the way I'm playing," she said. "I just had to forget about last week's disappointment pretty quickly and go back to practice to make sure all these little things that were wrong in Eastbourne went the right way today."

Ninth seed Anastasia Myskina [Images] had a scare before finally scrambling over the first hurdle.

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Russia's first women's grand slam winner when she triumphed at the French Open last year, Myskina was pressed all the way before beating Czech qualifier Katerina Bohmova 5-7, 7-6, 6-4.

Myskina trailed 4-1 in the second set and 3-0 in the third before winning both to avert a second successive first round loss at a grand slam tournament.

Last month she became the first defending champion to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros when she lost to Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.

"I don't know if she plays like this all the time but I think she played a pretty good match," Myskina said. "I'm very happy that I fought back. It was a happy ending for me."

Fellow Russian Marat Safin [Images] wasted little time beating Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan [Images] 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

The fifth seed and Australian Open [Images] champion looked comfortable on a surface he admits is not his favourite against an opponent known for his serve-volley game on grass.

STRONGLY FANCIED

Safin secured victory in the 500th match of his career with two successive aces to set up a second round clash with either Slovakia's Karol Beck or Australian Mark Philippoussis, the 2003 Wimbledon finalist.

"I'm still president of the 'I hate grass club'," Safin laughed. "I'm still there but, you know, I've been walking on it quite a lot lately."

Teenager Sania Mirza [Images] became the first Indian woman to reach the second round of Wimbledon with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Japan's [Images] Akiko Morigami.

The 18-year-old's win set up an intriguing second-round showdown with U.S. Open champion and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova [Images], who will be aiming to avenge her surprise defeat by the Indian in Dubai earlier this year.

Kuznetsova thrashed Britain's Rebecca Llewellyn 6-0, 6-1.

Belgian Kim Clijsters also beat a Briton, ousting wildcard Katie O'Brien 6-2, 6-3.

Former world number one Clijsters arrived at the All England Club strongly fancied after capturing the Eastbourne title on Saturday.

French Open runner-up Mariano Puerta hardly had time to knock the clay from his shoes before skidding out of the first round 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 to German Lars Burgsmueller.

In four visits to south-west London, the Argentine is yet to win a match.

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