By Piers Newbery BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Mauresmo is trying to win her third Grand Slam title

Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova managed to seal quick wins before the rain returned at Wimbledon.

Play did not get under way until 1455 BST, almost two hours later than scheduled, and with more rain expected the leading women were in a hurry.

Defending champion Mauresmo dominated her third-round clash on Centre Court, beating Mara Santangelo 6-1 6-2.

And Sharapova came through a tricky second set to beat Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-3 on Court One.

Highlights: Wimbledon day six

Interview: Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo

Interview: Number two seed Maria Sharapova

Fourth seed Mauresmo, whose season has been disrupted by injury and illness, said she felt her game was coming together at the right time.

"I'm pretty satisfied with my play in the first week," said the 27-year-old Frenchwoman. "I've improved a couple of things from the first two matches."

It's a weird situation because you know the rain is coming. It was good to get the match finished Maria Sharapova

Sharapova served out her match as the rain began to fall, while Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling were still knocking up on Centre ahead of their third-round match.

"I heard the weather wasn't going to be good for the rest of the day so it was good to get it finished," admitted the Russian second seed.

"It's a weird situation because you know the rain is coming. It was a tense moment," added Sharapova, who could next face Venus Williams.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Nicole Vaidisova and Williams were also in early action.

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will play Guillermo Canas in the final match of the day on Centre, although the weather prospects do not look good.