Defending champion Roger Federer ruthlessly ended Tim Henman's ever-fading Wimbledon dreams for another year.

Federer simply outclassed a shell-shocked Henman, cruising to a 6-4 6-0 6-2 victory in just one hour 24 minutes on Centre Court.

The British number three won just five points in the second set as he bowed out in the second round for the second year in succession.

It was Federer's 43rd successive win on grass and it seems nothing will stop him from claiming a fourth straight title next week, joining Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras as the only players to do so in the Open era.

Henman put up a decent fight in the first set but then lost 11 games in a row, a streak which left him on the brink of defeat.

Afterwards Henman, now 31, said he had no intention of quitting ther game just yet.

He added: "It's disappointing that I couldn't have a bigger impact in the match but Roger has a lot to do with that because he was just too good today.

"I think he's the best player I've ever played against, full stop. Even if you are at your best I think you also need him to be playing below his best because of how good and consistent he is. You need things to go in your favour.

"It's very difficult to see him getting beaten."

There was better news for the host nation with Melanie South stunning Italian 11th seed Francesca Schiavone.

South's hopes of avoiding the ranks of Brits crashing out in the opening round looked bleak after she lost the first set 6-3.

However, an early break saw her take control of the second and she squared the match by taking it 6-3.

Roared on by the crowd in the decider, South produced an athletic backhand that sailed past her opponent to break in the seventh game and Schiavone became visibly frustrated.

And South saved her best for last, setting up two match points with a breathtaking cross-court forehand and then dispatching Schiavone with an ace to win the set 6-4 and book her place in the second round.

"I can't believe I won and I'm so happy to have won. Obviously it was my best ever win," South said.

Wild card Sarah Borwell joined South in the second round with a victory over Poland's Marta Domachowska.

Things looked promising for 26-year-old Borwell when she took the first set 6-3.

The Middlesbrough-born player lost the second on the tie-break but showed battling qualities in a tight final set, breaking in the 10th game to win the contest 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

Martin Lee became the fifth Briton to reach the second round of the men's singles with a straight-sets win over veteran Dick Norman.

The British number six made up for lost time in his delayed first-round match against the 35-year-old, taking just over two hours to secure a 6-2 7-6 7-6 victory, his fourth in six appearances at Wimbledon.

The 28-year-old Londoner never looked back after breaking his opponent to love in the opening game.

The British left-hander, who has overcome a catalogue of injuries to get his career back on track, joins Tim Henman, Andy Murray, Richard Bloomfield and Jamie Delgado in the second round.

Lee, one-time top junior in the world but currently 252nd in the world rankings, will now meet Jarkko Nieminen, who was an easy winner against Marcos Daniel.

Scotsman Alan Mackin was ousted by 18th seed Marcos Baghdatis in a first-round epic which pushed both men to the very limit of their endurance.

The 24-year-old Mackin, ranked 367 in the world, was on course for a famous win when he led the Australian Open runner-up by two sets to one and by 3-0 in the fourth.

The injury-hit Cypriot then called for two medical time-outs in the fourth set but he somehow dug deep into his reserves of physical and mental energy to grind down the brave Briton in a match that lasted four hours and 20 minutes.

Baghdatis, who took the first set against Roger Federer at the Australian Open earlier this year, won 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2 to break his duck at the All England Club after losing in the first round a year ago.

Fellow Brit Joshua Goodall produced a battling display against Melle van Gemerden but it was not enough to prevent him crashing out in straight sets.

And Richard Bloomfield also made his exit as dusk approached.

The British number seven couldn't follow up his first-round win over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq on Tuesday, losing to former world number two Tommy Haas 6-3 6-4 7-6.

Alejandro Falla caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far when he ousted Russian ninth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

In a match that started on Tuesday, Colombian qualifier Falla, who has enjoyed most of his best wins on clay, shrugged off losing the opening set to post an impressive 2-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (10/8) 6-3 win.

Davydenko, a former French Open semi-finalist, actually won more points in the match but his 42 unforced errors proved costly.

The Russian had only ever won one game at Wimbledon prior to this and he now must wait another year to improve on that woeful statistic.

Third seed Andy Roddick battled through a testing encounter against Janko Tipsarevic, recording a 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-2 win to reach the second round.

Roddick will now face the German world number 63 Florian Mayer.

2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt was an easy 6-1 6-1 6-3 winner over Italy's Filippo Volandri and now meets Hyung-Taik Lee.

Seventh seed and title darkhorse Mario Ancic was also an easy winner against Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti.

Ancic served superbly against a game but limited foe as he won 6-4 6-2 6-1.

Fourth seed David Nalbandian saw off Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Centre Court.

The Argentine, who made the final here in 2002 before losing to Hewitt, looked in fine fettle throughout as he became the first man through to round three.

Using his trademark mixture of power and guile the man from Cordoba hit 24 winners as he wrapped up a 6-4 6-4 6-3 win in front of an appreciative packed crowd in SW19.

Nalbandian insisted afterwards he was feeling no ill effects from the injury which forced him out of the French Open semi-final, saying: "I am playing better every time and in good shape."

Fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic had to dig deep to see off Feliciano Lopez - winning 11-9 in the final set.

The world number four had looked in trouble when he blew a two-set lead, but he held himself together in the tense final stages of the match to progress to round two.

In what was a battle of the big servers - Ljubicic served 32 aces to his opponent's 26 - Spaniard Lopez fought back well to force a deciding set.

The pair traded breaks early in the fifth set, but Ljubicic struck the fatal blow in the 20th game to complete a 6-3 6-4 5-7 3-6 11-9 victory.

The Croatian star will face American Justin Gimelstob in round two.

In the ladies' singles, all the big guns progressed.

Venus Williams kicked off her campaign for a fourth title in style by by breezing past American qualifier Bethanie Mattek 6-1 6-0.

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova was also in a hurry as she made short work of her first-round tie against Israeli Anna Smashnova, winning 6-2 6-0.

Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters both went through to round three - the former beat Ekaterina Bychkova 6-1 6-2, while the latter received a walkover.

Elsewhere world number one Amelie Mauresmo was in ruthless form against Ivana Abramovic on Court Two, serving up a 'double bagel' 6-0 6-0 win.

Despite her impressive display, Mauresmo reflected: "It is maybe tough to judge a little bit after just one match how I feel my game is - although I was very satisfied about the way I played today.

"I do not know, though, if maybe because my opponent was not so good made it easy for me."

The world number one maintained: "It is pretty open this year, maybe more than the last couple of times.

"You have seen Justine [Henin-Hardenne] adjusting very well last week at Eastbourne, and Venus [Williams] is very tough on this surface because she is playing really well.

"You also look on Kim's [Clijsters] side [of the draw], maybe [Svetlana] Kuznetsova, so it is wide open."

The 1997 champion Martina Hingis also cruised through 6-1 6-2 against Italian Tathiana Garbin.

Russian seeds Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva both enjoyed straight-sets wins, but their compatriots Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina were both taken to three both progressing.

Three seeds did fall though.

Nathalie Dechy (22), Marion Bartoli (24) and Mara Santangelo (32) were beaten by Sybille Bammer, Karolina Sprem and Amy Frazier respectively.

Back to the men and American 17th seed Robby Ginepri was stunned by compatriot Mardy Fish.

The 2004 Olympic silver medallist used his big serve to good effect as he fired down 12 aces in a 6-3 6-2 6-4 romp.

Another American, James Blake, needed four sets to see off Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, while Sebastien Grosjean won his all-French tussle with Gilles Simon.

In the past three years Grosjean has made a quarter and two semi-finals, and he next meets Britain's Jamie Delgado.

Czech star Radek Stepanek won a tough battle with Xavier Malisse.

He now plays former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in round three.

The 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio needed four sets to overcome Jean-Christophe Faurel, while Dmitry Tursunov, the man who ousted Tim Henman last year, was far too powerful for Danai Udomchoke as he ran out a facile 6-1 6-4 6-2 winner.

Kristof Vliegen, seeded 30, was a surprise straight-sets loser against Nicolas Mahut while former finalist Mark Philippoussis was beaten in four by Max Mirnyi.