Thursday afternoon proved to be a good one to be a seed with tournament favourites Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams leading the way for the ladies into the third round of Wimbledon. Sharapova completed her match carried forward from last night to blank the Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the final set after the gutsy grass court specialist had levelled proceedings by sneaking the second in a tiebreak. Serena Williams, who shared in her press conference that she'd love to get some flowers from someone from the opposite sex, had no trouble in her on court appearance, cruising past Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink, 6-1, 6-4.

There were also straight set wins for Eastbourne runner-up Angelique Kerber, French Open runner-up Sara Errani, former French Open champions Ana Ivanovic and Francesca Schiavone among others. Not quite so fortunate though was the only seed to make an early exit today - former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli.

Defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic was given another quality work out by 20-year old American prodigy Ryan Harrison, and would have been relieved to have eased his way into the third round in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. With the weather playing havoc with the schedule for the second straight day, Djokovic's match was played entirely under the roof, and thanks to the aritficial lighting could go on late into the evening.

The match was a largely entertaining affair with Harrison showing enough quality to indicate that he would be a certainty to make the second week at Wimbledon rather regularly for years to come. The opening set had plenty of exciting rallies and the fans got behind the underdog, without losing an ounce of love or respect for their champion.

On an exceptionally exciting day 3 at Wimbledon there were rain delays, match points saved, upsets galores and fashion faux pas in abundance as the top stars of the WTA Tour provided some royal entertainment fit for the grandest stage of them all. With rain playing havoc with Tuesday's schedule as well, there were a host of first round matches which were left midway, while the second round also got underway. World no.1 Maria Sharapova, the overwhelming favourite for the title this year, was given a rude shock by Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who tends to reserve her best tennis for Wimbledon, and was a semi-finalist here two years ago. Pironkova raced to a 5-2 lead in the opening set and had countless set points including a 0-40 opportunity on the Sharapova serve, but failed to get the job done. Sharapova took the first set in a tiebreak and was up 3-1 in the second was play was discontinued on court 1.

Amongst those who were able to get their matches underway, sentimental favourite Kim Clijsters cruised into the third round, while there were three huge upsets with US Open champion Sam Stosur, former French Open champion Li Na and former world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki all making early exits.

The world no.3 and six-time champion, Roger Federer, continued his unscathed progress at this year's Wimbledon as he breezed past the Italian Fabio Fognini with consummate ease to book a spot in third round, in the process treating the Centre Court crowd to an absolute masterclass.

It seemed as though the Swiss had wound back the clock to his prime when he dominated this venue like it was his own playground with his opponents being reduced to mere sparring partners. This domineering performance would, moreover, send an ominous and foreboding message to his young rivals.

The 68th ranked Italian was simply overwhelmed by the maestro's speed, power and unparalleled versatility. The first set saw the unseeded Italian struggling to win points on his serve as Federer's crisp and powerful returns placed Fognini on the back foot right away in his service games. Though, the Italian had a relatively easier time on his serve in the next two sets, he was unable to create any sort of impression on his illustrious opponent's serve. The final score was 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in Roger's favour.

The four Canadians in the singles main draw at Wimbledon were in action on Tuesday at the All-England Club as Stéphanie Dubois, Vasek Pospisil, Milos Raonic and Aleksandra Wozniak took to the court for their first round matches.

On the women's side, Wozniak went up against Russian Vera Dushevina, ranked no. 94 on the WTA rankings. The two players had met once before on grass in 2009 and Wozniak dominated her opponent 6-1, 6-0. Dushevina proved to be tougher competition on Tuesday, but Wozniak still came away with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

The bottom half of the men's draw kicked off their assault on Wimbledon 2012 today, and the favourites showed their week 2 credentials rather early by powering their way into the second round. Two-time former champion Rafael Nadal had to battle back in a tight opening set before getting the better of Thomaz Bellucci in three sets 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3. World no.4 Andy Murray was meanwhile in sublime form, giving the local fans plenty to cheer about during his 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over former world no.3 Nikolay Davydenko. Also picking up wins were charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and American no.1 Mardy Fish.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal was given a rude shock early in his match against Brazilian left-hander Thomaz Bellucci, who raced away to a 4-1 lead before the world no.2 started playing catch-up. The opening set eventually made its way into a tiebreak which Nadal romped through to love as if to emphasize his distaste at having been pushed so early in the contest.