WIMBLEDON, England – Venus Williams and Roger Federer continue to feel right at home on Centre Court, though their opponents yesterday perhaps belonged elsewhere.

Williams battered fellow American Bethanie Mattek, who made more of an impact with her attire than her tennis. Federer, meanwhile, clamped down on hometown favorite Tim Henman, at one point rattling off 11 straight games in a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory. Other favorites prevailed, too, as Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin-Hardenne won easily, while Andy Roddick struggled in a first-round, four-set win over a man who played well above his ranking.

Mattek, sporting a pierced eyebrow and playing in rumpled (and very short) shorts, a tight tank top with two advertisements sown on, and near knee-high socks, looked liked she had been cast in a tennis reality show broadcast on MTV. The reality of Williams was a frightening one: the final score was 6-1, 6-0, with Mattek winning just 10 points in the second set.

Despite the score, the match did not reveal much about Williams’s level at the moment. She served well and volleyed fine.Her forehand was also the source of several winners. Then again, how could things have gone awry against Mattek? The 21-year-old from Rochester, Minn., now a resident of Miami,has yet to win a match at a Grand Slam event in seven tries and is ranked no. 103 in the world. Though she has some flare and a potentially dangerous serve (it reached 120 mph once yesterday), she makes too many mistakes and allows her opponents too much time to maneuver.

What Mattek lacked in strokes she made up for in business acumen. The marketing agency Octagon offered her $2,000 to attach two patches to her tank top (since Mattek forgot the name of both companies in her post-match interview, we’ll decline to publish them here).

Asked what she would have had to do to earn $5,000, Mattek said: “If I wasn’t wearing a bra or something, maybe that would have gone up five. Definitely would have gotten a picture there.”

All kidding aside, Mattek could use the extra cash, on top of the $14,300 she’ll take home for losing in the first round. After paying for her coach, her flights, her meals, and her outfits (she went shopping at Harrod’s Tuesday evening), she said she is breaking even.

If Williams had her way,Mattek would make a few dollars more, as would the rest of the women, who earn less in prize money than their male counterparts. Williams continued her campaign for equal pay yesterday, thanking British Prime Minister Tony Blair and John McEnroe for joining her side. Men and women are paid the same at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, while only the winners receive the same prize money at the French Open (there are discrepancies among the rest of the field).

Williams said she does not buy the argument that the pay scale is fair, considering that women’s matches are shorter and generally easier in the early rounds (cases in point: Sharapova defeated Anna Smashnova 6-2, 6-0, Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Ekaterina Bychkova 6-1, 6-2, and Amelie Mauresmo dumped Ivana Abramovic 6-0, 6-0 in 39 minutes).

“We aren’t involved in arguing the time spent on court, sets played; that’s a moot topic,” she said. “What it’s really about is being treated equal as a human being.”

Federer doesn’t care much for the subject, having said this week that the difference in the winners’ checks – about $55,000 – is so small, and the prizes so large (each more than $1.1 million), that the debate is not worth having.Whatever Federer’s position on pay, no one will debate that, so far, playing against him is near pointless.

Henman hung tough for a few games yesterday, cheered on by fans who were spoiling for an unlikely upset. When Federer pulled away, Henman had no chance to catch him.The Brit had talked about finding a balanced attack in this tournament – playing serve-and-volley at times, rallying from the baseline, and moving in behind well-place strokes – but there is no equilibrium when your opponent can outdo you in all facets of the game.

While Federer again flashed fine form, his opponent in last year’s final, Roddick, continued to search for his game, and the search was tentative: he hit just six baseline winners. The 23-year-old American survived a tricky first-round match against Janko Tipsarevic, a 22-year-old from Belgrade, Serbia, winning 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-2. He returns to action today.

Tipsarevic outplayed Roddick in both tiebreak sets, hitting aggressive two-handed backhands and keeping Roddick pinned behind the baseline. He also played a few stylish points at the net, even turning back a Roddick between-the-legs drive.

Roddick might not inspire as much fear in his opponent’s as he once did, but he said he does not mind if that’s the case. Right now, his goal is to “survive and advance” (and perhaps add Jimmy Connors to his advisory team after Wimbledon). And he knows that on these lawns, where he has reached the final two years running, he might yet turn things around.

“If guys want to sleep on me, they can sleep on me,” Roddick said.” I probably wouldn’t encourage it here.”

In the best tennis of the afternoon, no. 5 seed Ivan Ljubicic outlasted Feliciano Lopez, a muscular lefty from Spain, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 ,11-9. Both men played serve-and-volley for most of a match that stretched past the four-hour mark, and Lopez turned aside seven match points before double faulting on the final point.

Despite his formidable serve and strong volleys, Ljubicic has never gone beyond the second round here. He next faces American Justin Gimelstob, also a serve-and-volleyer.

tperrotta@nysun.com