Justine Henin-Hardenne dropped just one game on her way to an emphatic 6-0 6-1 second-round win over Anna Kournikova.

Her win was in stark contrast to that of Lindsay Davenport who toiled in a 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-5 win over Iroda Tulyganova.

It was hard to stay focused because there were not a lot of rallies Justine Henin-Hardenne

Kournikova had been expected to give the fifth seed a difficult match, but the 21-year-old was unable to muster a challenge and slumped to the heaviest Grand Slam defeat of her career.

Her problems stemmed from her notoriously fallible serve, with one second delivery clipping the top of her racket and flying into the crowd, and another bouncing before it reached the net.

Henin-Hardenne was merely required to keep the ball in play and she soon raced through the first set in just 18 minutes.

The Russian managed to get her name on the scoreboard at the beginning of the second set, but it had more to do with Henin-Hardenne's bemusement at her opponent's erratic play.

"It was a very slow serve, and a lot of double faults - sometimes it was amazing. I just tried to stay focused on myself," Henin-Hardenne said later.

The fifth seed soon recovered her poise and took the match on her third match point after 47 minutes.

"It was very hard to get into the match," said a downcast Kournikova.

"She started off playing really well. Every single point, she was fighting for it. I was always on the defensive, and she was always a step ahead of me.

"I really had no weapons against her today."

Henin-Hardenne next faces Katarina Srebotnik before a possible fourth-round meeting with ninth seed Lindsay Davenport.

That meeting was almost cancelled as the clearly out of sorts American wasted six set points before dropping behind against Tulyganova after a tense first-set tiebreak.

Davenport clawed her way back into the match by taking the second set, but she was a long way from her best as Tulyganova continued to make her scrap for every point.

The ninth seed was a break down in the third set but eventually prevailed as Tulyganova's lack of experience let her down.

Second seed Venus Williams had no such trouble, seeing off Ansley Cargill 6-0 6-3.

It was a welcome return to form for the Williams clan, as both Serena and Venus were unimpressive in the first round.

Elsewhere, 15th seed Alexandra Stevenson's appalling Grand Slam form continued when she lost 6-2 6-2 to Czech Denisa Chladkova.

Since reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon on her debut in 1999, the American, who beat Britain's Elena Baltacha in her opening match, has lost in the first round of 10 Grand Slams and in the second round a further three times.

Stevenson was followed out of the tournament by 13th seed Silvia Farina Elia, who lost in straight sets to Nicole Pratt of Australia.

Seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova was tested by Italy's Adrianna Serra Zanetti but won in two tiebreaks, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3).

And Patty Schnyder, the number 12 seed, continued her progress with a simple 6-3 6-1 win over Spain's Marta Marrero.