A RUTHLESS Roger Federer began his US. Open defence with a 61-minute, 6-1 6-1 6-1 thrashing of Ivo Minar.

Neither Nathalie Dechy of France nor Jelena Jankovic of Serbia & Montenegro will be entering the US Open in a positive frame of mind.

Robby Ginepri never dropped his serve but still lost out to top seed Andy Roddick 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (7/2), in an all-American quarter-final at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis.

French Open results, Roland Garros, Paris:

World number one and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne has admitted to rushing her comeback from glandular fever after crashing out of the French Open.

Fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo continued her inexorable march through the early rounds of the Australian Open with another powerful display at Melbourne Park.

Justine Henin-Hardenne, the head girl of women’s tennis, taught 15-year-old Australian Olivia Lukaszewicz a harsh lesson about what it takes to mix it with the grown-ups at a grand slam.

World number one Kim Clijsters, still searching for her first Grand Slam title, has coasted to a 6-2 6-4 victory over American number 17 seed Meghann Shaughnessy at the US Open.

Kim Clijsters moved a step closer to her first Grand Slam title with a 6-3 6-2 win over 27th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

JUSTIN HENIN-HARDENNE, the slim Belgian star with the biggest promise of ending the women’s power era at Wimbledon, fought through the pain of a hand injury to reach the second round against tall Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko.

Results so far from Round 1 at Wimbledon.

Women's Singles, Round 1

AMERICAN stars Andre Agassi and Serena Williams turned up the heat at the French Open yesterday on a scorching day on the centre-court.

Curtsying at Wimbledon had always been one of Serena Williams’ dreams and the top women’s player is not hiding her disappointment that the tradition has come to an end.

DEFENDING champion Serena Williams raced into the third round of the French Open along with Belgian fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne. However, Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova and former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov headed for the exit.

A day of contrast for the Williams sisters in Miami only served to highlight Serena’s current dominance.

Kim Clijsters continued her march through the Australian Open to reach the semi-finals without dropping a set.

Martina Hingis will meet Monica Seles in the fourth round of the US Open, after the Swiss star beat Amanda Coetzer 6-3 6-4.

Anna Kournikova advanced to the second round of the Bank of the West Classic with a decisive 6-3 6-2 win over Anna Smashnova.

The seedings for the 2002 Wimbledon Championships have been announced by the All-England Club in London.

Martina Hingis rediscovered her winning touch by clinching the adidas International title in Sydney.

Revenge will be in the Centre Court air today, as Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams clash for a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Seventh seed Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, has beaten 17th seed Meghann Shaughnessy, of the United States, 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/5) in fourth round match at Wimbledon.

Conchita Martinez of Spain became the latest women's seed to fall at Roland Garros when she was defeated 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Zimbabwe's Cara Black.

Top seed Martina Hingis continued her quest to win the only grand slam to have been denied her with a 7-5 6-1 defeat of Australian Rachel McQuillan at the French Open.

Venus Williams routed fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy in two one-sided sets to capture the Betty Barclay Cup.

Martina Hingis sailed into the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.