Click here for day one results

Greg Rusedski was delighted to easily clear his first hurdle to Wimbledon glory with a comfortable victory over Austria's Jurgen Melzer.

Rusedski was in inspired form in the first set on his way to a 6-1 6-4 7-5 victory over the former junior Wimbledon champion.

"I was very pleased with the way I played," said the British number two, who believes this year is one of two remaining chances he has to win Wimbledon.

"You don't win Wimbledon juniors by fluke but I managed to get on top of him and break early which set the tone for the match.

"I'm happy to be done in three sets and to have played so well.

"I was pleased with the way I was aggressive on my returns and passing shots. That's what I have worked on. I have to put it on the line for two weeks and go for my shots."

Brave Briton Martin Lee let a golden chance slip out of his hands against a below-par Pete Sampras.

The 24-year-old Londoner, with just one win on tour all year, wasted an incredible 18 break points against the seven-time champion before slipping to a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 straight sets defeat.

Although Sampras did not look too bothered by the rib injury which saw him appeal for a 24-hour delay to the opening round encounter, the American never looked remotely on top form.

Sampras will know drastic improvement is required if he is to pose a serious threat to the title he once made his own, but Lee should have made life far harder.

"I had my chances but didn't take them," Lee admitted.

"Pete doesn't usually play that well in the first round but I thought he had to today.

"I was surprised at the level he reached. I know I had 19 break points in the match but if I go back over them there weren't many I should definitely have won.

"I started to read his serve but at that speed it is still tough to get it back."

While Lee will depart to rediscover the winning formula having won only one match after breaking into the top 100 this season, Sampras moves to the next stage as one of only three previous winners in the competition.

His play fluctuated wildly during the match, but he seemed to have Lee's measure when the pressure was applied.

"There were times when my serve was unhittable but when I look at the stats I can see there is some work to do in that area," he said.

"The Centre Court brings something special out in me. It is like a Mecca, when I walk onto the court I feel I have come home."

Sampras brushed off fitness fears, admitting the rib damage had concerned him on Saturday but hadn't bothered him during the game.

"I knew it was a long shot asking for an extra day to recover, so when they offered to put the game back to third match on I accepted," he said.

"It is a non-issue now. I felt a lot happier in practice, that's when I knew it wasn't really bothering me. I had some tests but it wasn't serious."

Lee joined compatriot Arvind Parmar through the exit door.

Parmar dropped the first set to 14th seed Thomas Enqvist in rapid fashion, losing it 6-1 in just 21 minutes out on court two.

And he was unable to stem the tide as the Swede moved on to win the next two results 6-4 6-4.

Parmar, who reached the quarter-finals at Nottingham last week, was one of the first competitors on court at this year's tournament - but also one of the first to leave.

Parmar said afterwards: "He was hitting very hard, very heavy, it was tough for me."

Enqvist said he was surprised Parmar did not come to the net but the British number five explained: "It was risky playing serve and volley because he was serving so well - but maybe I should have stuck a couple in."

Enqvist said: "I knew I had to play well to win because he's dangerous on grass and I think I did that.

"I thought maybe he would come in more on his first serve but I was hitting some good returns so maybe that's why he stayed back."

Later British wild card Jamie Delgado squandered two match points in a see-saw encounter with Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti.

The 25-year-old Briton lost the first two sets 6-3 6-2 and faced two match points in the third set against the man who helped inflict one of Britain's most embarrassing Davis Cup defeat in 2000.

But Delgado, beaten by Andre Agassi in the second round last year, staved off defeat, winning the third set on the tie-break, 8-6.

He squared the match on Court Two by taking the fourth set 6-4 and looked set to complete a stunning turnaround when he had two match points in the 10th game of the fifth set.

But the Maidenhead player squandered the opportunities at 5-4 and things went downhill for him from there.

Number 22 seed Lapentti won the fifth set 7-5 to set up a clash against another British wild card hopeful - Barry Cowan - in the second round.

Delgado described his defeat as one of the "most disappointing" of his career but denied that he choked on the big points.

"I feel totally gutted because I came so close," he said. "Those are the matches that hurt you because you feel you could and should have won.

"I will be playing those match points over in my mind for a while but I don't think I did too much wrong. I tried as hard as I could."

Cowan, who took seven times champion Sampras to the brink in last year's second round, was the first British winner of the day.

He dropped the first set on a tie break to Hungary's Attila Savolt but hit back to win 6-7 6-3 6-3 6-3.

The British number six upped the pace and served powerfully to take control and overcome 26-year-old Savolt, rated 69 in the world - 182 places above Cowan, from Didsbury.

Cowan's victory over Savolt which took him into the second round, ended a four-month losing run.

He admitted he could not bear to even count the number of matches he had lost since his last victory at an indoor tournament in Germany in February.

``I've had a pretty horrendous year and it's nice to get a win,'' said Cowan, who admitted he had failed to capitalise on his headline-hitting match against Sampras last year.

``There are reasons but now I just want to concentrate on my next match in the second round on Wednesday,'' he said.

He certainly enjoyed the day more than another Brit, James Auckland, who was forced to pull out less than one hour before his first round match was scheduled to start.

Wild card Auckland suffered a stress fracture of his left foot and was ruled out of his court four clash against Switzerland's George Bastl.

Andre Agassi swept into the second round with clinical efficiency, defeating Israel's Harel Levy 6-0 6-4 6-4.

The third seed, handed the honour of opening Centre Court proceedings in the absence of defending men's champion Goran Ivanisevic, took just 18 minutes to clinch the opening set.

The rest was slightly more of a struggle but Levy's best efforts were nowhere near enough and, Agassi, despite not playing a grass court tournament in the build-up to his bid for an eighth Grand Slam title, served warning he will be a serious contender this time.

"I felt very comfortable," admitted Agassi.

"You can only expect so much in your first match and the final score should probably have been closer.

"I am not a serve and volley player. If I am going to win matches on grass I have to approach things in a different way."

Marat Safin, the second seed who does not rate his chances of winning, got his bid off to a confident start with a straight-sets win over veteran Frenchman Cedric Pioline.

The 6ft 4in Russian, in a rich vein of form after winning the Liverpool International at the weekend, took just under two hours to beat the former Wimbledon finalist 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 6-3.

He was forced to work hard in the sweltering heat on court one before winning a serve-dominated first set on a tie-break - but Pioline threatened only briefly after that.

Safin, who admitted he is still being troubled by a back injury, was satisfied with his victory but remained cautious over his title prospects.

"It's very difficult, but yeah, why not?" he said. "Everybody can beat everybody on any surface.

"The first round is most important. If you get to the second week, anything can happen. My goal is to get past the second round and get more confidence and feel more comfortable on the court."

Safin's fellow Russian, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, also made progress in straight sets. He beat Dominik Hrbaty 6-1 7-6 7-6 with little fuss.

Andy Roddick, the 11th seed, joined Safin in round two when his opponent Bodhan Ulihrach retired when a set and 3-1 down.

Former champion Richard Krajicek notched up his first match win in almost two years as he ousted Franco Squillari.

But the 6ft 5in 30-year-old was convincing in the opening Court Three match, coming out a 6-2 7-5 7-6 (7/5) winner to end his drought in just under two hours.

Afterwards Krajicek revealed how in May he suffered an injury setback which left him fearing for his future.

`"My arm was still bothering me and I didn't think I'd play Wimbledon this year," he explained. "I was maybe doubting when I was going to play, if I ever was going to be good.

"It went downhill really quick to the moment I could only play 30 minutes.

"That was the moment I started talking to my coach like: 'Okay, we have to set the D-day now, when are we going to make a decision not only for Wimbledon but also for my career and also for our co-operation together'.

"To come out here, play and win my first match, is nice."

Jiri Novak, the 12th seed, also cruised through after a first-set upset against Fernando Meligeni, but both Juan Ignacio Chela and Max Mirnyi were seeded casualties.

Chela lost to fellow baseliner Fernando Gonzalez, while Taylor Dent won a battle of the big servers against Mirnyi.

In the women's singles, Jennifer Capriati was broken three times on her way to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Slovakian world number 41 Janette Husarova.

Double faults littered her game and she will have to improve her serve if she is to be a title challenger.

She was joined in round two by second seed Serena Williams who made an impressive start to her campaign on Centre Court.

Williams, fresh from her French Open triumph at Roland Garros earlier this month, swept aside Australia's Evie Dominikovic 6-1 6-1.

But Anna Kournikova's poor form continued.

Much to the disappointment of the crowd on Court Two, the Russian lost 1-6 6-4 4-6 to compatriot Tatiana Panova.

Eighth seed Sandrine Testud was thoroughly tested in her first round match but managed to survive.

German opponent Anca Barna led by a set and a break against the Frenchwoman but once Testud levelled the match she crumbled in the decider.

Testud finally won through 6-7 6-4 6-1 in an hour and 54 minutes.

Ninth seed Amelie Mauresmo also survived a tough first match.

Frenchwoman Mauresmo seemed to be cruising to victory when she took the first set against Iveta Benesova 6-1 in just 23 minutes.

But her Czech opponent showed her character in the second set which she forced into a tie break and then levelled the match by winning it by seven points to love.

Maursemo, who served 12 aces during the match, had her mind focussed by that tie-break nightmare and found a new gear and took the third set 6-2 to make progress into the second round.

Late in the evening seventh seed Jelena Dokic struggled to beat Ukrainian qualifier Elena Tatarkova as the sun went down.

The match proved to be the last of the day and stretched past 9pm local time.

After winning the first set on a tie-break the Yugoslav wasted a 3-0 lead in the second set before rallying to clinch an unconvincing 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory.

There were easy wins for Daniela Hantuchova who beat Cristina Torrens Valero in straight sets,

and Meghann Shaughnessy who proved too strong for Britain's Lucie Ahl.

Iroda Tulyaganova, the 14th seed, did not have things all her own way but showed her fighting spirit as she came back from a set down to beat Silvija Talaja 2-6 6-2 6-4.

But Nicole Pratt was a seed to fall early.

The Aussie lost 7-5 7-5 to American Laura Granville.

She was later joined on the sidelines by former semi-finalist Alexandra Stevenson.

The American, seeded 24 this year, was well beaten 6-1 6-3 by Japan's Saori Obata.