Venus Williams in action against Hana Sromova in Wimbledon on Thursday. (AFP)

London: An error-prone Sania Mirza’s singles campaign at the Wimbledon was cut short in straight sets by 11th seed Russian Nadia Petrova on Thursday.

Sania was drubbed 2-6, 2-6, much to the disappointment of the vociferous Indians at the All England Club.

Sania began sluggishly and was soon 0-3 down as a result of frequent over-hitting and weak serves, allowing Petrova to take the initiative. Her slow movement did not help either and she was forced to go for winners from difficult positions resulting in errors.

Petrova will now face the winner of the match between Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine.

There were no such problems for Roger Federer as he won his 50th straight match on grass, needing only 11 minutes on Thursday to complete his 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over 18-year-old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

The four-time defending champion, who will next face Marat Safin in a juicy third round encounter, had led 2-0 in the third set before rain halted play Wednesday. When they resumed, the top-ranked Swiss finished off del Potro, winning three straight games before Del Potro held serve in the sixth game.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Safin beat Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

No. 4 Novak Djokovic and No. 9 James Blake also won, while four-time semi-finalist Tim Henman lost out.

Since making his debut here in 1994, the 32-year-old Briton has rarely done anything without an overdose of dramatic tension and his 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1 defeat was no exception.

After being subdued by the sheer accuracy of the Lopez serve for two sets, Henman turned the match on its head with some vintage grasscourt tennis to send his opponent reeling.

The magic did not last, however. The admirable Lopez re-grouped at the beginning of the fifth set, silenced the crowd with an early break and then stormed away to victory.

Second Rafael Nadal pummelled Austrian Werner Eschauer 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the third round where he will meet Sweden’s Robin Soderling.

Lleyton Hewitt, too, showed his early exit from Queen’s was just a blip when he eased through to the third round with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over Italian Simone Bolleli.

Sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko made a breakthrough to reach the third round for the first time in his career. The Russian was made to fight tooth and nail for a 3-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Australian Chris Guccione.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo overcame a first-game blip to stroll into the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday, defeating Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-1, 6-2.

The 27-year-old fourth seed, wearing protective strapping on her right thigh, dropped serve in the first game of the match but then recovered to win the next six games and the set to banish any ideas of an upset.

Former champions Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams advanced among women.

Venus, wearing white spandex shorts instead of a usual skirt or dress, beat Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.

Sharapova advanced by beating 2006 quarter finalist Severine Bremond of France 6-0, 6-3. The 2004 champion showed no signs of the injured right shoulder that bothered her at the French Open.

French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic also advanced to the third round, beating Meilen Tu of the US 6-4, 6-3. The sixth-seeded Serb reached the fourth round last year.

No. 8 Anna Chakvetadze defeated Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-2, 6-1, while No. 10 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 12 Elena Dementieva, No. 14 Nicole Vaidisova and No. 15 Patty Schnyder also registered victories.

Just 24 hours after creating a stir by emerging on court wearing red underwear, Tatiana Golovin discovered that red was not her lucky colour.

She became the highest women’s seed to exit following a 2-6, 6-3, 1-6 defeat by Austrian Tamira Paszek.

Wayne Arthurs, playing in the final tournament of his 17-year career and at 36 the oldest man in the starting draw, upset No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Robredo is the highest seeded player to be eliminated.

Djokovic advanced by beating Amer Delic of the US 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), while Blake defeated Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.

No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 13 Tommy Haas, No. 15 Ivan Ljubicic and No. 20 Juan Carlos Ferrero also won, while No. 17 David Ferrer and No. 24 Juan Ignacio Chela lost.

DAY III RESULTS

Men’s singles, Round II — Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Richard Gasquet (12, Fra) bt Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez (5, Chi) bt Alejandro Falla (Col) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (1); Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt Florent Serra (Fra) 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-2; Andy Roddick (3, US) bt Danai Udomchoke (Tha) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3)

Women’s singles, Round I — Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Blr) 7-5, 6-2; Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukr) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Sui) 6-3, 6-3; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Esp) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (22, Esp) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2; Akiko Morigami (Jpn) bt Alberta Brianti (Ita) 6-4, 6-0; Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Tsvetana Kirilo Pironkova (Bul) 6-2, 6-1; Tathiana Garbin (21, Ita) bt Yan Zi (Chn) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone (29, Ita) bt Anne Kremer (Lux) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; Tatiana Golovin (17, Fra) bt Hsieh Su-wei (Tai) 5-7, 6-3, 8-6; Dinara Safina (13, Rus) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 7-5, 7-6 (7); Meilen Tu (US) bt Edina Gallovits (Rom) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Elena Dementieva (12, Rus) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-2, 7-6 (7); Tamira Paszek (Aut) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 6-4, 7-6 (3); Mara Santangelo (28, Ita) bt Ayumi Morita (Jpn) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; Nicole Vaidisova (14, Cze) bt Karin Knapp (Ita) 7-6 (6), 6-2; Severine Bremond (Fra) bt Ekaterina Bychkova (Rus) 6-4, 6-4; Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Shenay Perry (US) 6-2, 7-6; Ana Ivanovic (6, Ser) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 6-0, 7-6 (3), Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt Catalina Castano (Col) 6-0, 7-5; Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Jelena Kostanic Tosic (Cro) 6-3, 6-1; Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt Casey Dellacqua (Aus) 6-3, 6-4; Martina Mueller (32, Ger) bt Anna Smashnova (Isr) 6-0, 6-0;

Round II — Jelena Jankovic (3, Ser) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Svk) 6-1, 6-1; Marion Bartoli (18, France) bt Olga Govortsova (Blr) 7-5, 6-2; Shahar Peer (16, Isr) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-4, 7-5; Justine Henin (1, Bel) bt Vera Dushevina (Rus) 6-0, 6-4; Milagros Sequera (Ven) bt Samantha Stosur (27, Aus) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4; Martina Hingis (9, Sui) bt Aiko Nakamura (Jpn) 6-1, 6-2; Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Emilie Loit (Fra) 6-1, 6-2; Serena Williams (7, US) bt Alicia Molik (Aus) 7-6 (4), 6-3; Laura Granville (US) bt Sybille Bammer (20, Aut) 6-1, 6-4