Top seeds advance

The eighth-seeded American, looking for her first Wimbledon title, was not at her best and needed treatment on her right shoulder during the first set, but she still had too much power for Morigami.

The 27-year-old is without a title this year and struggling to rediscover her best form after undergoing eye surgery at the end of last year. She will face Russian Anastasia Myskina for a place in the quarter-finals.

The French Open champion, whose left hand and fingers are heavily strapped following her fall in the Ordina Open final last weekend, ended the Australian challenge in the women's draw after dishing out a lesson in grasscourt tennis to Molik.

The 2001 Wimbledon runner-up will next face 2000 Roland Garros winner Mary Pierce for a place in the quarter-finals.

Having not beaten the Belgian in their previous two meetings, the chances of Molik causing an upset on Wimbledon's court two looked slim from the start.

While Molik managed to stave off two break points in the opening game of the match, it did not take long for the 21-year-old Belgian to make her mark.

Molik, who has never progressed beyond the second round in four previous visits, could do little to stem the flow of sublime backhand winners flying off Henin-Hardenne's racket.

A break in the fifth game of each set was enough to offer Henin-Hardenne a comfortable cushion.

She captured the first set in 28 minutes by firing her second ace of the match and a crunching volley secured the win.

Williams did her best to intimidate her opponent from the outset, sending down an ace with her first serve before winning the first game to love in less than a minute. Her strategy appeared to work as the nervous 28th seed double-faulted with her first serve and was immediately broken.

Granville continued to struggle until the fourth game when, perhaps realising the match would be over swiftly unless she acted, she registered on the scoreboard when she held serve. Her confidence boosted, the 22-year-old began to test the top seed, producing flashes of brilliant attacking tennis.

She found the strength to get on the end of Williams's thumping serves to force the world number one into a series of long rallies. But, the first set won, Serena came out fighting in the second and Granville was lucky to get a game on the board.

Williams will meet Russia's Elena Dementieva, seeded 15, in the next round.

The 16-year-old unseeded Siberian, a girls singles finalist here last year, showed scant regard for reputations as she out-hit and out-thought the 2000 semi-finalist who is struggling to emerge from a deepening rut of form.

After breaking her Yugoslav opponent in the first game, Sharapova dominated the baseline rallies with her potent forehand, raising her game whenever she was threatened.

The 20-year-old Dokic squandered two break points when Sharapova served for the first set at 5-4 and from that moment on there was only one likely outcome.

A searing backhand pass gave her another break to lead 4-2 in the second set. An increasingly despondent Dokic was put out of her misery when Sharapova fired down her fifth ace to clinch the most impressive victory of her career.

Sharapova will now meet another of the Russian brigade, Svetlana Kuznetsova, for a place in the quarter-finals. Kuznetsova, 18 and on her first visit to the Wimbledon grass courts, beat Emilie Loit of France 6-1 6-2.

The 15th-seed, one of five Russians still alive in the women's draw, will face Williams if the top seed overcomes her fellow American Laura Granville in the third round later.

Dementieva reached the fourth round here for the second successive year after she frustrated her opponent with searing service returns and groundstrokes from the baseline.

After falling behind 4-1 in the first set, Wimbledon debutant Kapros briefly rallied to break the Dementieva serve in the seventh game.

But the teenager's comeback on a sun-drenched court 18 was short-lived as she was immediately broken back before Dementieva wrapped up the set when Kapros's forehand down the line fell well wide.

Kapros simply wilted in the second set, leaving Dementieva to charge towards a straightforward victory.

The 204-ranked Kapros saved one match point with an ace but her ordeal ended on the second as she miscued a dipping volley wide.