Thursday, June 29 2006 15:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Ruthless Roger Federer crushed Tim Henman's Wimbledon dream for another year on Wednesday while Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were so merciless that they almost undermined their campaign for equal prize money.

Federer, bidding for a fourth successive title here, destroyed Henman 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in just 84 minutes to notch up his 43rd consecutive grass court win.

His Centre Court demolition will also prompt questions over Henman's future in the game as the four-time semi-finalist here inches towards his 32nd birthday.

"I played a really good match," said Federer who will take on France's Nicolas Mahut or Kristof Vliegen of Belgium for a place in the last 32.

"It's difficult to play a good player like Tim as well as the home crowd. There is still pressure, so I'm happy with the result," he said.

Andy Roddick, the third seed who has been the runner-up to Federer here for the last two years, overcame a shaky start to beat Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to reach the second round.

"He came out firing from the first ball," said Roddick who now faces Germany's Florian Mayer.

"But I didn't blow a fuse when I lost the first set. I didn't get down on myself and that as well as my serve got me through," he said.

The 2002 men's champion Lleyton Hewitt, the sixth seed, began his campaign in fine style beating Italian Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 while Argentina's fourth seed David Nalbandian, the runner-up four years ago, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over France's Arnaud Clement to reach the third round.

Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic, the fifth seed, reached the second round with a marathon 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez. In the women's tournament, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams cruised through to the second round with such ease that their argument for equal prize money was left looking decidedly unconvincing.

Russian pin-up Sharapova, the 2004 champion, took only 51 minutes to see off Israeli veteran Anna Smashnova 6-2, 6-0 while defending champion Williams took just a minute longer to beat compatriot Bethanie Mattek 6-1, 6-0.

Top seed Amelie Mauresmo, the world number one, was the most merciless as the Frenchwoman took only 39 minutes to continue the trend of mismatches with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Croatian qualifier Ivana Abramovic.

Despite her quick fire win, Sharapova insists the women should be treated equally by the Wimbledon authorities.

"It's only the first match on a grass court. There are other tournaments where there are first round matches which are a lot tougher," said the fourth seed.

"Women and men should be treated equally. This is an amazing sport and there is as much interest in women's tennis as there is in men's.

"Just because we can't play five sets because of our genes, what can we do?" Williams was overjoyed to have the backing of British prime minister Tony Blair in the campaign.

"The fact that Mr Blair finds this cause extremely important gives it credence. It's about being treated equal as a human being," he said.

Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters had the easiest afternoon of all the top women when she reached the third round without hitting a ball after her opponent Viktoria Kutuzova of Ukraine had to withdraw because of a virus.

Russian ninth seed Nikolay Davydenko was knocked out after losing his first round match 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 to Colombia's Alejandro Falla while Mardy Fish beat American compatriot Robby Ginepri, the 17th seed, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.