By DPA
London : Roger Federer wrapped up some unfinished business while Rafael Nadal schooled a senior playing Wimbledon for only the second time in seven years as the top pair rolled into the third round of the tournament.
Russian Maria Sharapova and France's Amelie Mauresmo led the women's seeds to victories on Thursday, which also saw Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza crashing out after she lost 2-6, 2-6 to 11th seed Nadia Petrova of Russia. Leander Paes, however, kept the Indian flag flying.
Paes and Martin Damm of Czech Republic, seeded fifth, defeated Chris Haggard of South Africa and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-5.
Paes and Damm will now play the winners of the match between James Auckland of England and Australian Stephen Huss and Ilia Bozoljac of Serbia and Czech Republic's Dick Norman.
Even the loud support from the Indians in the stands failed to inspire Sania, who made many errors to crash out quickly.
The 20-year-old Indian has never advanced beyond the second round at Wimbledon. She was beaten in the opening round last year but had made it to the second round in 2005.
Petrova, 25, is ranked 11 in the world, 33 places above Sania, and her best performance at Wimbledon has been a quarterfinal appearance in 2005. Petrova has also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and US Open but has never progressed beyond the last eight at any of the grand slam events.
The match lasted just over an hour as the Russian attacked the net with gusto and put the Indian under pressure right from the start. Sania had 18 unforced errors to Petrova's 17 but the Russian put her experience to good use by winning the crucial points to breeze to a straight sets win.
Sania has also entered the women's doubles, where she is partnering Sahar Peer of Israel, and mixed doubles competition, in which she is paired with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.
Petrova will now play the winner of the encounter between Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.
With dire predictions of rain failing to materialise, officials scythed through a backed-up programme with great efficiency as leading seeds cooperated with fast-track wins.
Top seed and world No.1 Federer shrugged off an overnight rain interruption, completing a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 second-round demolition of Juan Del Potro.
The 50th grass-court victory of the four-time champion's career put Federer into a replay of the 2005 Australian Open final as he takes on Marat Safin.
The Russian, whose career has been a roller coaster, defeated 279th-ranked Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Federer, aiming to join Bjorn Borg with five consecutive Wimbledon titles, was quick to crush teenager Del Potro after heading to the locker room leading 2-0 in their third set the night before.
Upon his return, it was lethal business as usual.
Nadal, the 20-year-old second seed, used his wealth of Grand Slam experience to defeat 33-year-old journeyman Werner Eschauer 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
The Austrian has made 14 unsuccessful attempts to qualify for a Grand Slam. His only other Wimbledon appearance was a first-round loss in 2000.
But on the biggest stage he will ever see, the underdog put up a spirited effort before losing to the Spanish prodigy.
There were also victories for number four Novak Djokovic over American Amer Delic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) while sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko overturned a two-sets-to-love deficit at the expense of Australian Chris Guccione 3-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2.
Czech number seven Tomas Berdych, US ninth seed James Blake, and tenth seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus all reached the third round.
Australian 36-year-old Wayne Arthurs, playing in his final event, kept going with an upset of 11th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
On the women's side, Sharapova said she felt no problems from her injured shoulder in a defeat of Severine Bremond 6-0, 6-3.
Holder Mauresmo, seeded fourth, beat Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-1, 6-2 while fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova stopped American Bethanie Mattek 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic pounced on 24 unforced errors from American Meilen Tu, earning a quick 6-4, 6-3 victory to enter the third round. Serb sixth seed Ivanovic is one victory away form duplicating her Wimbledon best, a fourth round achieved at her second appearance in 2006.