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Henin-Hardenne shows Yuan no mercy
 Henin-Hardenne had been beaten in the first round at Wimbledon in 2005. WIMBLEDON, England -- Justine Henin-Hardenne buried memories of her shock exit last year with a ruthless 6-0 6-1 win over China's Yuan Meng in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday. The French Open champion, who was beaten in the opening round here 12 months ago, showed little mercy to an opponent making her debut at the grasscourt grand slam. "I played well, very consistent, pretty aggressive," said the third seed. "That's the kind of match you need in your first rounds." After wasting two set points with successive double faults, the Belgian third seed sealed the first set with a glorious backhand crosscourt winner. With Henin-Hardenne threatening to run away with the match at 4-0 up in the second, Yuan, ranked 99th, finally registered a game after 46 minutes to draw loud cheers from the packed Center Court crowd. The reprieve was short-lived and Henin-Hardenne, who warmed up for the tournament by winning the Eastbourne title on Saturday, ended Yuan's ordeal with a backhand volley. Having avoided a repetition of last year's mishap, the five-times grand slam champion was quick to turn her thoughts to completing her collection of major titles by triumphing at the All England Club. "I would love to take a place in history," said the 24-year-old, who was runner-up to Venus Williams in 2001. "I can dream about that for sure but ... a grand slam is very long. I know I have possibilities to win this tournament, and I will have to work hard and stay focused." Happy HingisMartina Hingis firmly banished her worst Wimbledon nightmares on Tuesday, sweeping into the second round with a stylish 6-2 6-2 win over Ukrainian teenager Olga Savchuk. Hingis, reveling in a comeback that has already taken her to the quarterfinals of the Australian and French Grand Slams, showed all her old deftness of touch with some exquisite drop shots that left Savchuk flat-footed. It was the Swiss former world number one's first appearance at Wimbledon for five years. Last time she was knocked out in the first round by Spain's Virginia Ruana Pascual. Now 12th seed, Hingis, who won Wimbledon when just three months short of her 17th birthday back in 1997, is clearly in love with her tennis again and she beamed to an appreciative crowd as she left court two. Kim Clijsters was made to work hard before she booked her place in the second round with a 7-5 6-3 win over Russian Vera Zvonareva. The duo's previous meeting in the second round at Eastbourne six days ago had lasted just 10 minutes before the Russian was forced to quit with a foot injury. Zvonareva, who claimed the Edgbaston grasscourt title before Eastbourne, appeared to have overcome her injury but was unable to resist Clijsters's superior stroke play. Svetlana Kuznetsova celebrated her 21st birthday with a 6-3 6-2 win over Italian qualifier Romina Oprandi. The fifth-seeded Russian and French Open runner-up made good use of her power on a green court two. Kuznetsova rattled down five aces in the first set and, after saving break points on her own serve, broke Oprandi to lead 3-2 before completing a 57-minute win.  Hingis won Wimbledon at the age of 16 in 1997. In the second round she plays Czech Kveta Peschke who beat Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico 6-3 6-0. China's Li Na made an impressive Wimbledon debut when she thrashed France's Virginie Razzano 6-2 6-0. Li is the first Chinese player to be seeded in a grand slam singles event and the number 27 blew Razzano away with some searing ground strokes on court 19. A thumping backhand winner on match point brought her victory and Li will next face either Russia's Vassilissa Bardina or American Meilen Tu. Li could meet Kuznetsova in round three in a rematch of their meeting at that stage of the French Open earlier this month. 
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