Wimbledon, England ? The asphalt courts at the public park where Serena Williams and Angela Haynes learned to swing a racket and the patch of grass where they engaged in a riveting Grand Slam match Tuesday are separated by thousands of miles and so much more.

Yet there they were, the seven-time major champion Williams and the unheralded Haynes, trading powerful groundstrokes and grunts. Haynes practiced beside Williams in Compton, Calif., in the 1980s, looked up to her in recent years, and led her for the better part of two hours in the first round at Wimbledon.

Eventually, Williams’ experience was too much for the 104th-ranked Haynes in her All England Club debut. So reigning Australian Open champion Williams squeaked by with a 6-7 (12), 6-4, 6-2 victory, avoiding the sort of shocker that befell French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne earlier in the day.

Henin-Hardenne fell, 7-6 (8), 2-6, 7-5, to 76th-ranked Eleni Daniilidou. That made her the first French Open women’s champion in 43 years to drop her opening match at Wimbledon. It also ended her 24-match winning streak, all on clay.

“Playing on clay and then coming here, it’s so different,” the seventh-seeded Henin-Hardenne said. “You change everything.”

Williams skipped the French Open because of a left ankle sprain that has sidelined her since May 11. She called her play against Haynes “rusty,” adding that she “kind of felt like I was feeling my way around.”

“If I won, it could have changed my whole life,” said Haynes, who as a toddler, would hang around while her father, Fred, taught her older siblings how to play tennis at Lynwood Park, where Richard Williams instructed his girls.

Also, Andy Roddick eliminated Jiri Vanek, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Rafael Nadal, the 19-year-old Spaniard who won the French Open, rolled to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Vince Spadea.