Hewitt quickly into his stride

Australian Lleyton Hewitt erased the memory of his first round disaster at last year's Wimbledon with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory over Austrian Juergen Melzer on Monday.

Hewitt was the first men's champion to lose in the opening round since 1967 when he was beaten by Croatian Ivo Karlovic 12 months ago, but the seventh seed was never troubled by Melzer on court one.

Hewitt's backcourt prowess proved too much for the Austrian and he wrapped up victory with a firm backhand under threatening skies to set up a second round clash with either Georgian Irakli Labadze or Belgium's Kristof Vliegen.

The Australian is on course for a potential quarter-final against champion Roger Federer.