Federer fires past helpless Henman in Wimbledon rout

By Bill Scott Jun 28, 2006, 17:32 GMT

Tim Henman of Great Britain returns to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wednesday 28 June 2006. EPA/GERRY PENNY

London - Roger Federer rammed home a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory to end the Wimbledon Championships expedition of longtime rival Tim Henman in the second round Wednesday.

The Swiss top seed, in his bid for a fourth consecutive title at the All England club, won his record 43rd straight match on grass in the efficient rout.

Henman, playing for the 13th time at his home Grand Slam, was beaten at this stage for the second year in a row.

The four-time semifinalist, aged 31 and ranked 64th, still owns a 6-5 career record over Federer, with the Swiss winning the last four as he makes up ground.

With the Wimbledon schedule still staggered after losing most of opening Monday to rain, two-time finalist Andy Roddick finally got on court in time to stage a fightback past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

Third seed Roddick, beaten in the title matches of 2004 and 2005 by Federer, had to rally against the eyebrow-pierced 22-year-old ranked 101 in the first round.

Roddick, who won his last trophy in 2005, is playing Wimbledon for the first time in four years without winning a grass court title to hand.

The American overcame 35 unforced errors to reach the second round against the hard-hitting challenger.'he had me worried,' Roddick admitted. 'I was just haning in for awhile.'

Croatian fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic made hard work of a victory against Feliciano Lopez, requiring five sets to put down a Spanish rebellion 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9.

Champion in 2002 and sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt had a straightforward outing, dispatching Italy's Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6- 1, 6-3, while Colombian outsider Alejandro Falla finished off an upset begun Tuesday evening.

The South American defeated Russian ninth seed Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.

'I felt like I could be in charge out there dictating play,' said Hewitt, winner of the Queen's title this month. 'It was a nice match- up.

'It's good to get through your first one, especially when you've got to back it up again tomorrow. It's the perfect result today.'

The 15th-seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, whose game is handy on grass, beat compatriot Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2, 6-4; Argentine number 16 Gaston Gaudio shook the clay out of his shoes to oust Jean- Christophe Faurel 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo led former winners Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams to storming victories into the second round.

Mauresmo, reigning Australian Open holder, produced a 6-0, 6-0 crushing of Croatian number 192 Ivana Abramovic, who was playing her first match at the event.

That quick-fire victory set up the template for 2004 Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who pounded Israeli Anna Smashnova 6-2, 6-0.

Sixth-seeded defending champion Williams, holder of three titles at the All England club, was untroubled by fellow American Bethanie Mattek, wearing unusual knee-length white socks, short-shorts and a tank top emblazoned with a pair of advertising logos, 6-1, 6-0.

Mauresmo produced 20 winners and broke on six of eight occasions against the 22-year-old Abramovic from Zagreb to move into a match against Australian Samantha Stosur.

'It's one of the great match that I've played here,' said Mauresmo. 'It's maybe tough to judge a little bit after just one match, but I was was very satisfied with the way I played today.

'And it's also good not to spend too much time on the court, that's another satisfaction.'

Mauresmo improved to 19-6 at Wimbledon, where she has reached the semi-finals in her last three events.

Sharapova, seeded fourth, won her 16th match against just two Wimbledon defeats while Williams broke the number 103 Mattek from Miami five times while facing only one break point against her serve.

'I took advantage of the first balls, I knew that she's not the best grass court player,' said the teenaged Sharapova. 'I just had to go for my shots, hit them and try to come in.

'I put some pressure on her because she'll run out there all day.'

Russian ninth seed Anastasia Myskina joined the party with a defeat of Cara Black 6-0, 6-4.

But unheralded Briton Melanie South, ranked 305, stunned Italian 11th seed Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The 20-year-old challenger was playing only her second match at this level after losing in the first round this month at Birmingham.

Second seed Kim Clijsters advanced to the third round without striking a ball as Viktoria Kutuzova of the Ukraine retired ill before the match with a viral infection.