WIMBLEDON, England ? Yevgeny Kafelnikov, one of the highest remaining seeds in the men’s draw, was eliminated in straight sets at Wimbledon on Friday by Belgium’s Xavier Malisse.

And No. 11 Andy Roddick was overwhelmed in straight sets by Britain’s Greg Rusedski, leaving just one American man – little-known Jeff Morrison – in the tournament.

Malisse, who had won only one previous match at Wimbledon before this tournament, beat the fifth-seeded Kafelnikov 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-1 in a third-round match on Centre Court, continuing the astonishing run of upsets in the men’s draw.

In women’s play, No. 2 Serena Williams and No. 3 Jennifer Capriati won in straight sets Friday to reach the fourth round.

Williams struggled to a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) win over Belgium’s Els Callens, while Capriati beat Daja Bedanova 6-4, 6-2.

Kafelnikov joins No. 2 Marat Safin, No. 3 Andre Agassi and No. 6 Pete Sampras – the seven-time champion – as an early round loser. All were in bottom part of the draw.

The chaos continued with Rusedski beating Roddick 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, and Nicolas Lapentti downing No. 15 Andrei Pavel in five sets.

By the end of the day, only two of the top-15 seeded men were still around: No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 4 Tim Henman, both in the top half of the draw.

Lapentii, at No. 22, is the highest seeded player left in the bottom half.

The American contingent has been decimated, with seven-time champion Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi among those knocked out in the first two rounds. Roddick and Taylor Dent were the latest Americans to lose Friday.

That leaves Morrison, a 23-year-old from Huntington, West Virginia, who upset ninth-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets Thursday.

Morrison, ranked No. 98, only got into the draw as a “lucky loser” after Germany’s Tommy Haas withdrew last week when his parents were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Florida. He plays Sjeng Schalken in the third round Saturday.

Kafelnikov, a two-time Grand Slam champion, reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1995 but hasn’t been a factor at the All England Club since.

Malisse, a 21-year-old baseliner, has been moving steadily up the rankings and is seeded 27th.

Kafelnikov never looked comfortable Friday as Malisse kept him under steady pressure.

The match turned in the Belgian’s favor with Kafelnikov serving at 6-5 in the second set. On the second break point of the game, Kafelnikov blew an easy high backhand volley, floating the ball wide and handing Malisse the set.

The Russian dropped his racket in disgust, closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. The match was essentially over as Malisse raced through the final set in 23 minutes.

Malisse finished with 16 aces, while Kafelnikov had nine double faults and 27 unforced errors.

Malisse will next face Rusedski, who played a nearly flawless serve-and-volley match against Roddick. The Briton was never broken, faced only two break points and thoroughly dominated the 19-year-old American.

Roddick made a number of acrobatic saves and full-stretch dives, but couldn’t hurt Rusedski, who fed off the crowd support, shouting and pumping himself up. When Roddick dumped a backhand into the net on the second match point, Rusedski shouted, “Yeah!” and held up his left index finger to the crowd.

“It’s easily the best match I’ve ever seen him play at Wimbledon,” said former three-time champion John McEnroe, doing television commentary for the BBC. “Totally dominant. It was the teacher giving the young guy a lesson.”

Rusedski’s win will raise local hopes of an all-British final against Henman. No British player has won the men’s title since Fred Perry in 1936.

Also advancing to the round of 16 were Richard Krajicek and Mark Philippoussis, two big servers coming back after serious injuries.

Philippoussis was the first man to reach the round of 16, serving 33 aces and beating Nicolas Kiefer 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Krajicek, the 1996 champion, swept to a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, who beat Andre Agassi in the second round.

Australia’s Wayne Arthurs served 32 aces to beat Dent 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) in a match without a single break of serve and very few rallies. Each player held serve at love seven times.

On the women’s side, Williams came from a break down in each set to overcome Callens, a qualifier ranked No. 119. Williams slipped and fell twice during the match and committed 22 unforced errors, three more than her opponent.

Williams became extremely animated in the final stages, pumping her fists and screaming “Come on!” – especially when she won a long baseline rally to give her a 3-1 lead in the second-set tiebreaker.

After firing a serve down the middle for her fourth ace on match point, Williams did her trademark twirl and waved to the crowd.

Capriati, looking for her first Wimbledon title, also struggled but had an easier time against Bedanova.

Williams will next play fellow American Chanda Rubin, who defeated Russia’s Tatiana Panova 6-4, 6-1 in 56 minutes. It was Rubin’s sixth straight win over Panova – all in straight sets.

Capriati will face Eleni Danilidou of Greece, a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner over Miriam Oremans.

Seventh-seeded Jelena Dokic beat France’s Nathalie Dechy 7-5, 6-2 in the day’s opening match on Centre Court. She’ll meet No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Maja Matevzic.