Easy for Henin-Hardenne

French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne opened her Wimbledon challenge with a comprehensive 6-0 6-1 win over Meng Yuan of China on Centre Court this afternoon.

The 24-year-old world number three was runner-up here in 2001 and then reached successive semi-finals before being struck down by an energy-sapping viral infection which threatened her career.

But now back to top form, the Belgian – winner of the Hastings Direct Championships at Eastbourne last week – wasted little time in booking a place in the second round as her teenage opponent was brushed aside in just 56 minutes, the match having been held over because of yesterday’s rain delay.

Yuan, the 19-year-old from Hong Kong, lost her serve in the very first game, double faulting after missing an early opportunity to settle any debutant nerves.

From that point, Henin-Hardenne overpowered the world number 99 as she moved through her whole range of shots, both from the baseline and at the net.

Another booming cross-court forehand set up two break points in game three, which was taken at the second time of asking following an unforced error wide from Yaun.

The Belgian number three seed showed few signs of letting up, breaking Yuan again at 5-0, this time producing a fine overhead cross-court volley to wrong-foot her opponent.

And, with SW19 finally basking in sunshine on day two, Henin-Hardenne promptly served out for the opening set in just 27 minutes.

It was more one-way traffic at the start of the second set as the number three seed began with another break in the first game, passing Yuan superbly down the line.

Henin-Hardenne was in no mood to hang around, and recovered from 0-30 in game four to close in on round two with a second ace of the match.

Yuan finally got on the board when she held her next service game.

However, the number three seed made it 5-1 with another fine backhand.

And Henin-Hardenne swiftly secured a sixth break on her second match point to close out a straight-sets victory.

The number three seed will now meet either Aiko Nakamura of Japan or Russian Ekaterina Bychkova in the second round.