Rafael Nadal, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, beat American Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, while former champion Lleyton Hewitt also advanced in straight sets. In the women's draw, ex- champions Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova won, Williams coming back from a set and a break down.

"I think I've made my mistakes in the first round and I think that it helps to work out some of those cobwebs," Williams told reporters. "Being able to hit a lot of balls in some pressure situations will definitely help me in the coming rounds."

Mauresmo, this year's fourth seed, took a 5-0 lead at the All England Club in southwest London and used power to overwhelm her 20-year-old opponent, who has never advanced beyond the second round at a Grand Slam tournament.

Mauresmo, a 27-year-old Frenchwoman, ended an 11-year wait for her first Grand Slam title at last year's Australian Open and followed that by beating Justine Henin to take the title at the only grass-court major. Mauresmo lost to Henin three days ago in the final of a tune-up event at Eastbourne, England.

Mauresmo, who reached three semifinals before winning her first title last year, served an ace to save a break point in her opening service game before wrapping up the first set with several volleyed winners. She won the last two games to clinch the match, winning when her opponent dumped a forehand into the net.

"It's great to be back as the defending champion here," said Mauresmo. "It's maybe a little extra tension before you walk on court but during the game it feels good."

Tim Henman, Britain's four-time semifinalist, beat 25th- seeded Carlos Moya 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11 in a match stopped yesterday when darkness halted play. Resuming at 5-5 in the fifth set, Henman won when Moya double-faulted on the Briton's seventh match point.

Nadal began his third attempt to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.

A 21-year-old Spaniard whose best surface is slow red clay, Nadal adapted to the faster grass surface by standing closer to the baseline on the return of serve and hitting closer to the net to disrupt Fish's rhythm. He broke in the eighth game of the third set and served out for the victory.

"I returned very well and was running well," said Nadal. "Anything can happen in a tournament like this, so I'm very happy."

Hewitt, the 2002 champion from Australia, overcame British wild card Richard Bloomfield 7-5, 6-3, 7-5. Bloomfield, ranked 194th in the world, attacked the net and forced Hewitt to beat him with passing shots.

"If I take care of my service game, I'm a good enough returner to win a lot of games on this surface," Hewitt said.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the men's fourth seed, defeated Italy's Potito Starace and James Blake of the U.S., seeded ninth, beat Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus also advanced.

Williams, a three-time champion, defeated Alla Kudryatseva of Russia 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, and Sharapova, the 2004 champion, overcame Yung-jan Chan of Taiwan 6-1, 7-5.

"I was happy with the way I served and controlled the match," said Sharapova. "I was a bit too passive in the second set and didn't attack her serve a lot."

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, came back from a set down to defeat Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine.