The Belgian world number two, who won the grasscourt Ordina Open tournament at the weekend, hardly broke sweat in a match lasting 32 minutes

Clijsters perhaps had a point to prove after the first round defeat of her boyfriend and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, whom she had followed on to Centre Court. She was simply too good for her 27-year-old opponent, ranked 110 in the world.

Clijsters will face either Virginie Razzano or Anastassia Rodionova in the next round.

Venus too has it easy

Venus Williams also bludgeoned her way to a first-round victory over hapless qualifer Stanislava Hrozenska, winning 6-2, 6-2 in 50 minutes.

Looking every inch the queen of sunny court two in her silver tiara-like hairband and dangling earrings, the twice former champion hit three aces for her first three points of the match, banging down 185 kph serves.

But the fourth seed also peppered her game with groundstroke errors and double faults as she attempted to blast her 21-year-old Slovakian opponent off the court.

Sheer determination, combined with Williams's waywardness gave Hrozenska, ranked 194 in the world, four games but she stood no real chance and succumbed finally on her own serve to two unreturnable backhands.

Davenport made to sweat

Former champion Lindsay Davenport shrugged off her recent injury woes to battle past Australian wildcard Samantha Stosur 7-6, 7-5 in another first round match.

The fifth-seeded American, who retired from the fourth round of the French Open after being troubled by a pinched nerve on her toe, was given the run-around in the opening set as Stosur opened up a 3-1 lead on a hot and humid Court One.

But the 1999 champion, who missed the event last year after undergoing knee surgery, fought her way back by firing blistering groundstrokes past the unheralded Stosur.

She claimed the first set 7-3 on a tiebreak and again had to come from a break down in the second to clinch the match with a crunching forehand winner after one hour, 24 minutes.

Davenport will face Rita Grande of Italy, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Austria's Patricia Wartusch, in the second round.

Srichaphan withstands Hrbaty rally

Twelfth seed Paradorn Srichaphan withstood a spirited fightback from Dominik Hrbaty before beating the Slovak 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to earn a second-round place in the men's singles.

The Thai, who last year upset Andre Agassi in the second round, looked to have the match in his grasp overwhelming Hrbaty with his powerful serve and fine passing shots to go two sets up.

But the 25-year-old Slovak, perhaps boosted by the knowledge that he had beaten the Thai in the pair's previous two meetings, including a straight-sets win last month at the French Open, fought his way back into the match.

Serving more confidently and winning points with some well placed volleys, he eventually broke the Thai for first time in the 10th game to take the third set.

Building on that momentum, he crushed a visibly tiring Paradorn in the fourth. The Thai had looked like he might claw his way back when he got a break of serve in the seventh game, but the Hrbaty did not buckle, holding out for the set.

Paradorn, seemingly refreshed after the set break, hit back in the fifth with a renewed confidence and, after Hrbaty had received treatment for cramp, served out for the match.

The Thai will face either Frenchman Olivier Mutis or Argentine Franco Squillari, both unseeded, in the next round.

Nadal-Parera scalps Ancic

Spanish prodigy Rafael Nadal-Parera felled his fellow teenager Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 with a display of maturity way beyond his 16 years in the first round.

"I didn't think I was going to win. The match was very difficult for me," Nadal-Parera said after his solid serving and steady ground strokes gave him a notable first-round scalp.

"I certainly am happy and like playing on grass. This was difficult as I had been beaten by Ancic last time we met in Hamburg in February 6-3, 6-3," he added.

It was a bitter blow for Ancic because he had made such a sensational Grand Slam debut himself at Wimbledon last year, beating Switzerland's hotly fancied Roger Federer in the first round on centre court.