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Greg Rusedski crashed out of Wimbledon amid an ugly stream of expletives after one of the most controversial incidents in the tournament's history.

The British number two had lost the first two sets of his match against American Andy Roddick.

But he had broken back in the third and was leading 5-2 when at 15-30 a spectator called a Roddick forehand out.

Rusedski hit the ball back but turned away believing the decision to have been called by a linesman and Roddick planted the winner. to The score was called by umpire Lars Graff as 15-40 and an incensed Rusedski called for the point to be replayed.

His appeal was refused and when he lost his serve he turned and smashed a ball into the back canvas, narrowly missing a lineswoman.

He then returned to his chair at the changeover and launched an Anglo-Saxon volley of abuse at the umpire which prompted commentator Barry Davies to apologise for the content to viewers watching events unfold on BBC2.

"I can't do anything if the crowd ****** calls it," fumed Rusedski. "It's ******* ridiculous. A ****** in the crowd changes the whole match and you allow it to happen. It's absolute ****."

Rusedski did not win another game as Roddick seized on his loss of concentration to blast his way to a straight sets victory 7-6 7-6 7-5.

As predicted, it was an afternoon for dodging line judges, huge thuds into green canvas and excited glances at the speed gun. It was always going to be a case of who blinked first.

As it happened it was Rusedski, though so tight was the margin in a first set in which there wasn't a single break point that the difference between the men was virtually imperceptible.

Roddick, however, squeezed out the tie-break but the action really hotted up in the second set.

At 3-3 and 30-30 Rusedski attempted to enlist the assistance of the crowd, urging them to roar him on. The gesture was not appreciated by Roddick who slammed down a huge serve and mouthed some words in Rusedski's direction which carried a heavy suspicion of Anglo-Saxon.

Again it was Roddick's nerve which stood up to the tie-break, his superior groundstrokes sweeping him to a 7-1 margin and the match looked all but over.

A might effort from Rusedski saw him claw his way back in and when he broke the Roddick service in the third it looked as if an epic was in prospect.

Then came that fateful call from that anonymous spectator - and Rusedski's Wimbledon was over minutes later in a cloud of red mist.

Fourth seed Roger Federer eased to a 7-5 6-1 6-1 win over Stefan Koubek as he laid down his title credentials on Wednesday.

Federer proved far too good for Koubek, showing why many people regard him as a hot contender to land his first Grand Slam championship.

A break in the 11th game of the opening set proved decisive and from that point the Swiss star continued on his way in fine fashion and clinched victory after less than an hour and 20 minutes.

Federer will now meet Mardy Fish, who swept past Jan-Michael Gambill in straight sets.

Fish eased to a 6-4 6-4 6-1 win, but will start as a huge underdog against the 'Fed Express'.

Afterwards Federer was quick to acknowledge the obvious danger Fish presents.

"I know I am the highest seed left in the top half but I cannot afford to think I am already in the final.

"There are other guys around who have an equally good chance and my next round will be pretty hard anyway so I won't be looking too far ahead.

"Mardy has a good fast surface game and he returns very well, so I will have to prepare properly."

Elsewhere British hope Lee Childs lost 6-2 6-4 6-3 to Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal in front of a packed court 13 crowd.

Long queues formed to witness Childs' return to the scene of his shock first round win over Russian number 33 seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Their sense of anticipation proved short-lived however as Nadal, who celebrated his 17th birthday earlier this month, quickly underlined his reputation as the world's top junior.

He eased through the first set, took the second with a break in the final game.

The third was also close but a rain break could not save Childs who again dropped his serve late on to bow out.

Afterwards Childs spoke about the 54-minute rain delay, taken at a crucial point in the third set when the Briton was 3-2 up with a break.

"I wish we could have carried on but we had to stop," admitted Childs.

"The four games I played were pretty terrible. I came up with a few unforced errors and I didn't test his serve."

Nadal will now face Paradorn Srichaphan, who surived a torrid test against Frenchman Olivier Mutis on Wednesday.

The Thai number one was forced to save two match points against Mutis, before eventually prevailing 4-6 1-6 7-6 7-5 7-5 in a marathon encounter.

Eighth seed Sjeng Schalken also enjoyed a five-set win.

Opponent Nicolas Lapentti certainly gave Schalken more than a few problems and established a shock two sets to one lead.

But Schalken showed his fighting spirit to level and despite falling a break down in the decider he sealed his place in the third round with an epic 6-2 3-6 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 win.

Giant-killing Croat Ivo Karlovic continued to walk tall at SW19 on Wednesday.

Lleyton Hewitt's 6ft 10in conqueror - the tallest ever competitor in the Championships - eased home by three sets to one against fellow qualifier Paul Baccanello of Australia.

Like Hewitt, who also hails from Adelaide, Baccanello had no answer to Karlovic's textbook serve-and-volley game, eventually going down 6-4 7-6(7-3) 5-7 6-2.

Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler stormed into the third round with a comprehensive victory over Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

The ninth seed had few problems en route to a 6-2 6-3 6-3 victory.

Schuettler next faces Wimbledon veteran Todd Martin. The former semi-finalist ousted three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.

The claycourt specialist, seeded 17, had no answer to Martin's serve-volley game and the American went through in straight sets.

Mikhail Youzhny joined Kuerten as a seeded casualty.

The number 16 seed, always dangerous on grass with his big serve, was beaten in straight sets by Spain's Feliciano Lopez, a player who also enjoyed a good run at Wimbledon last year, reaching the fourth round.

As the daylight faded, Arnaud Clement also bowed out, losing a five-set thriller to Justin Gimelstob, 6-1 in the decider.

But Tommy Robredo, seeded 25, had few problems against American Brian Vahaly.

The young Spaniard, usually more at home on clay, looked superb as he hit 38 winners during a 6-4 6-2 6-2 win.

Two lower seeds to fall were number 23 Agustin Calleri and 32nd-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela.

Calleri finally lost an epic match 10-8 in the fifth set to Brazilian Flavio Saretta, while his Argentine compatriot was routed in straight sets by Victor Hanescu.

In the women's singles, Venus Williams reached the third round with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Katarina Srebotnik.

The 2000 and 2001 champion was given a tough workout in a scrappy first set in which neither player's serve dominated.

But after that it was plain sailing for Williams who has yet to drop a set.

She is likely to be given a sterner test in the next round when she takes on French Open semi-finalist Nadia Petrova.

Afterwards Williams said: "I'm still looking for my best after my abdominal injury.

"But there's nothing there to worry now and I feel I can launch those big shots sometimes."

The major shock of the day in the women's draw saw a tearful Daniela Hantuchova lose a titanic battle against Shinobu Asagoe.

The Slovakian ninth seed sauntered to the opening set 6-0 but was pegged back when Asagoe grabbed the next 6-4.

The final set ebbed and flowed before Asagoe eventually closed out 0-6 6-4 12-10 after a marathon match that lasted two hours and 46 minutes.

Hantuchova was also close to tears in her press conference but insisted her behaviour on court was simply down to her desire to do well at Wimbledon.

"I didn't take my chances, I was very happy in the first set and then suddenly it turned around and she started to play well and saw she had a chance," she said.

"It's very disappointing but I have to move on and learn from the things I haven't done right. I felt great physically. I had no problems at all but I had a similar match in the French Open (losing to Ashley Harkleroad 9-7 in the third set) and it's disappointing to have two in a row like this."

Another shock saw Edgbaston winner Magdalena Maleeva dumped out at the second-round stage.

The 12th-seeded Bulgarian, who won the DFS Classic less than two weeks ago, was beaten by Argentina's Paola Suarez in three sets.

Another recent tournament winner, seventh seed Chanda Rubin, had no such problems. The Eastbourne champion continued her comfortable progress through the draw with a 6-4 6-4 win over fellow American Amy Frazier.

Meanwhile, former champion Lindsay Davenport lost just four games against Rita Grande as she moved into round three.

The 1999 winner, seeded five this year, had struggled in her opening match in SW19 but she looked in better form as she brushed aside her Italian opponent 6-3 6-1.

However, Davenport admitted she still had a big gap to close on the leading four seeds - the Williams sisters and Belgian duo Justin Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters.

"There's no question that those four players are right now at the very top of the game and the rest of us need to catch up," she said.

"But today was a big stepping stone. I was able to play the right type of tennis to be successful on grass. I'm feeling a lot better than I was yesterday because I didn't think I started well at all on Monday."

Late in the day, second seed Clijsters continued to blast her way through the draw, demolishing Virginie Razzano in straight sets.

The French Open runner-up won 6-1 6-3 in 56 minutes.

Elsewhere Ai Sugiyama had to call on all of her experience to oust Eva Fislova.

Sugiyama, seeded 13 at SW19, was given all sorts of problems by her Slovakian opponent before prevailing 6-1 6-7 (8-6) 7-5.

Vera Zvonareva made short work of Conchita Martinez Granados.

Zvonareva, seeded 16, never looked in trouble as she hit 19 clear winners against the Spaniard, who never really settled.

The Russian won the opening set 6-3, before pulling away and eventually easing through 6-3 6-1.

Among the lower seeds to fall were 17th-ranked Amanda Coetzer, number 24 Magui Serna and Denisa Chladkova (30).

Coetzer fell in three sets to Francesca Schiavone, Serna lost to Slovenian Maja Matevzic, also in three sets, while Chladkova was beaten by Cara Black.