Top seeds reignite cash debate

BOTH Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova made light work of their first-round opponents at Wimbledon — before then reigniting the debate over equal prize money.

Defending champion Williams cruised past American qualifier Bethanie Mattek 6-1 6-0 in just 51 minutes.

Sharapova, the fourth seed, dropped just two games, winning 6-2 6-0, the 2004 champion simply a class above Israel’s Anna Smashnova in perfect conditions on Court One.