Nadal and Henman flop in second round

French Open champion Rafael Nadal could be forgiven his second-round exit from Wimbledon yesterday. Briton Tim Henman, though, had no excuse.

Spain's flamboyant 19-year-old claycourt specialist slipped and slithered on the unfamiliar grass as he lost 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 to little-known Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Sixth seed Henman, the 30-year-old who is four-times a losing semi-finalist at Wimbledon, lost 3-6 6-2 3-6 6-3 8-6 to Russian Dmitry Tursunov, the world number 152.

Virtuoso Scottish wild card Andrew Murray showed them both how to do it. The 18-year-old, ranked 312 and playing his first grand slam, shocked Czech 14th seed Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4 6-4 for his second straight sets win in a row and his best so far.

In the women's singles champion Maria Sharapova overwhelmed Bulgarian 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva 6-0 6-1.

However, fourth seed and twice former champion Serena Williams endured her second three-setter in a row, eventually beating Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Serena remains on course for a fourth round meeting with older sister Venus. The US 14th seed won 7-5 6-3 against Australian Nicole Pratt.

Nadal's claycourt expertise counted for little on a slick Court One against Muller, the world number 69, who only won his first round match after opponent Felix Mantilla retired injured.

The fourth seed's defeat meant both the men's and women's winners from the French Open are already out of Wimbledon. Women's French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne lost in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

"I think I need to disconnect," said a weary Nadal. "I need to disconnect a little bit to recharge my batteries."

While the Spaniard clearly has a bright future, Henman's is less certain. But he vowed to come back next year to continue his increasingly forlorn bid to become Britain's first men's champion since 1936.

Few supporters

The Englishman had to recover from two sets down to win his first round match, an indication that he was nowhere near peak form for his biggest tournament of the year.

Yesterday, 22-year-old Tursunov proved a calm and resilient opponent who admirably kept his head after squandering several match points and despite having few supporters in a raucous Centre Court crowd.

"It's disappointing, it's tough to take but you've got to give him a lot of credit," Henman said. "I certainly didn't play badly today."

It was his worst Wimbledon showing since 1995.

White-hot Russian Sharapova turned Karatantcheva's day in the sun into a nightmare that she will quickly want to forget with a ruthless display of baselining.

The chastened Bulgarian's sole consolation was that by winning the 10th game she avoided suffering the tournament's first whitewash.

The two are not exactly the best of friends and Sharapova had little sympathy for her humiliated opponent.

"It's hard to feel sorry for your opponents. Unfortunately, this is an individual sport," said the 18-year-old.

French 19-year-old Richard Gasquet, who won the pre-Wimbledon grasscourt tournament in Nottingham, will face Nadal's conqueror Muller in round three after beating Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer 7-6 7-6 6-7 6-2.

The Beziers-born slugger was loathe to raise any false hopes of winning his first grand slam, however. "I have to play another five matches," said the 19-year-old. "It's too difficult for me now."

Two of Sharapova's Russian compatriots suffered contrasting fortunes.

Vera Zvonareva, the 11th seed, lost 1-6 6-4 6-3 to Czech Kveta Peschke but eighth seed Nadia Petrova hammered France's Severine Beltrame 6-1 6-2.