On a day when the only real surprise was the unexpected appearance of the sun, French Open champion Rafael Nadal tamed big-serving American Mardy Fish while 2004 winner Maria Sharapova and defending champion Amelie Mauresmo eased into the second round of the women's singles.

But even Sharapova's eye-catching outfit - a layered dress inspired by the ballet Swan Lake - could not deprive Henman of the limelight after he finally overcame former world number one Moya in a 24-game fifth set after more than four hours of high-quality tennis.

The two veterans had been interrupted by nightfall on Monday with the scores tied at 5-5 in the decisive set.

Henman had failed to take four match points then and he was to put the legions of fans watching on "Henman hill" through another hour of nail-biting before a double fault by Moya finally brought the match to a close.

That offered the former British number one the opportunity to reflect with typically modest satisfaction on a 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11 win that was the perfect riposte to those who had suggested it was time to hang up his racket.

It was only the third match the former British number one has managed to win all year. But, having reached four semi-finals here over the years, he will now have his sights set on reaching the second week, although he has a tricky second round clash with Feliciano Lopez, a Spaniard who loves to get to the net.

"Having played at that level, it is a fantastic start, but it is only a start and I want to build on that," Henman said.

Nadal took a leaf out of Roger Federer's book as he began his campaign to become the first man since Bjorn Borg to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles.

The Spaniard believes Federer gains a crucial edge over his rivals from the ease with which he despatches opponents in the early rounds and Nadal made short work of Fish, swatting back his 130mph serves with almost contemptuous ease at times on his way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion and the last man to win Wimbledon before Federer began his winning streak, was equally untroubled against British wildcard Richard Bloomfield, winning 7-5, 6-3, 7-5.

There were also wins for fourth seed Novak Djokovic and sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Despite wearing a thigh support to avoid aggravating a slight groin injury, Mauresmo needed just over an hour to complete a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of American Jamea Jackson, who is in the early stages of a comeback following hip surgery at the end of last year.

"Not bad," was Mauresmo's verdict on a performance that sends her into a second round meeting with Austria's Yvonne Meusburger.

"It is good to be back as the defending champion and I was keen to get started. It was a good, solid match to begin with."

Sharapova did not have too much trouble compiling a 6-1, 7-5 win over Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan but Venus Williams admitted she was short of match practice after squeezing past Russian teenager Alla Kudryavtseva 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"The first set went so fast and my balls were just flying out and I didn't have any answers," triple champion Williams said.

"I eventually had to take something off the ball because I just couldn't seem to get it in today. I haven't played a match in a few weeks, so I think that could be a factor."

On the outside courts, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi became the first Pakistani in 31 years to win a men's singles match at Wimbledon by knocking out British qualifier Lee Childs 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), to earn himself a crack at former world number one Marat Safin.

There was also a stirring display from veteran Australian Wayne Arthurs. The oldest man in the men's singles at 36, Arthurs fought back from two sets down to eliminate an opponent half his age, last year's Wimbledon juniors champion, Thiemo De Bakker.

And in the women's singles, Indian star Sania Mirza made light of a very late start by racing to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Russian Yaroslava Shvedova in just 55 minutes. Mirza now faces 11th seed Nadia Petrova for a place in the last 32.