Murray roars with delight.

On a day which may well go down as a changing of the guard in British tennis, Andrew Murray progressed at Wimbledon while Tim Henman bowed out.

The 18-year-old Murray was a stunning victor over 14th seed Radek Stepnaek, winning 6-4 6-4 6-4 with a superb display on Court One.

However, for Henman, so often the last Brit standing in the singles, it was a disappointing day.

Henman squandered a two-sets-to-one advantage against Russia's Dmitry Tursunov before losing 6-3 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-8.

It was the British number one's earliest exit from the All England Club in a decade, matching his second-round defeat in 1995.

A dejected Henman said: "It was perhaps a little bit of a reflection on my form. I haven't played such good tennis.

"Conditions have a part to play but they are what they are. I certainly didn't play badly today. I have played better but I can't have too many complaints.

"If he can play like that, he's better than me today.

"It's very disappointing and it won't sit comfortably with me for a period of time but you have to be able to move on."

However, Murray was happy to set up a meeting with 2002 finalist David Nalbandian in the last 32.

"I'll lose my next match," he predicted. "He's been to a Wimbledon final. I've won two matches at Wimbledon, two matches at Queen's and I'm only 18. I've got no experience playing in these matches.

"It is going to be very difficult for me. Today I don't think Stepanek played very well. He pretty much gave me the match. My next match will be a bit different. Nalbandian is much more consistent."

Murray also revealed he had been ill during the night before, making his performance all the more remarkable.

"I wasn't really nervous at all. Maybe it was something I ate yesterday night or maybe it was from the heat because I had to play doubles yesterday as well," he added.

"I woke up early and then I went back to sleep and when I woke up I was feeling much better."

Away from the Brits, French Open champion Rafael Nadal sensationally crashed out to debutant Gilles Muller.

The 19-year-old was seeded number four at the All England club following his triumph in Paris, but found former Junior Wimbledon finalist Muller just too strong.

Nadal, from Spain, failed to convert several break-point chances and it was no surprise when he lost the opening set 6-4.

He improved somewhat, particularly when coming to the net, to take the second set 6-4, but he had no answer to the combinations of the 69th-ranked Luxembourg player as a double fault handed Muller the third set 6-3.

The 22-year-old broke Nadal again in game five of the fourth set and despite Nadal digging deep and holding his next two service games he could not prevent Muller from clinching set 6-4 to take the match.

Another seed to fall was Olivier Rochus of Belgium, the number 33 seed losing 7-6 6-2 7-6 to Belarus' Max Mirnyi.

French number nine seed Sebastien Grosjean took his place in the last 32 with a straight-sets win over Victor Hanescu of Romania, but Argentina's Guillermo Coria, the 15th seed, needed five sets to beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-7 6-4.

In other matches, Igor Andreev, of Russia, knocked out Italian Davide Sanguinetti 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3 and number 28 seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic beat Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-1 4-6 7-6 6-3.

German Alexander Popp will face Dmitry Tursunov in round three after he beat Australian Wayne Arthurs in the day's epic five-set battle, coming through 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 14-12.

Andy Roddick had looked set to complete the third-round line-up, but after racing into a two-set lead, 7-5 6-3, he dropped the third set to Daniele Bracciali on a tie-break.

At that stage, night was drawing in and play was suspended. The players will now return to complete the match on Friday.

In the women's event, defending champion Maria Sharapova ruthlessly dispatched Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva 6-0 6-1 to reach the third round.

Such was the extent of the Russian star's dominance she allowed her 15-year-old opponent only four points throughout a second set which lasted all of 19 minutes.

Those points gave Karantantcheva her only game of the match and led to the sustained and sympathetic applause of the Court One crowd.

Jane O'Donoghue, Britain's sole survivor in the women's singles, was well beaten by 16th seed Nathalie Dechy.

The 22-year-old from Wigan, who put out world number 40 Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first round, lost the first set to the Frenchwoman 6-2 in 33 minutes on Court Two.

The partisan crowd, who were hoping to witness an upset, had little more to cheer in the second set as the young Lancastrian went into free-fall.

Dechy eventually sauntered to a 6-2 6-1 victory on her 10th consecutive appearance at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile Venus Williams was a straight-sets winner over Nicole Pratt.

The flamboyant American, a winner here in 2000 and 2001, was a worthy if not always comfortable victor.

Australian opponent Pratt had her moments, but when it came to the crunch she could not match Venus for power.

The first set was a tense affair, with the 14th seed finally prevailing 7-5.

She went through the gears in the next to close out a 7-5 6-3 win.

Sister Serena recovered from losing to opening set to avoid becoming another top seed to suffer a shock defeat at SW19 when she beat Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Daniela Hantuchova is also into the third round after coming through against Israel's Shahar Peer.

The Slovakian pin-up has never really shone at SW19, and again gave her legions of fans cause for concern after wobbling in the second set.

However the 20th seed held her nerve well to prevail 6-2 2-6 6-3.

Eighth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia roared past outclassed French opponent Severine Beltrame 6-1 6-2 and exciting Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic also had a convincing 6-4 6-3 win over Stephanie Foretz.

Elena Daniilidou, the shock first-round conqueror of French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, had an easier time of it as she proved that win was no flash in the pan with a 6-2 6-0 success against American Laura Granville.

Eleventh seed Vera Zvonareva was a major casualty on day four, falling 1-6 6-4 6-3 to Czech world number 62 Kveta Peschke.

French Open champion and 12th seed Mary Pierce almost joined her through the exit door but survived a match point in the second set before edging past Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko 4-6 7-6 9-7.