Serena (left) and Venus Williams consult each other during their doubles match against Britan's Claire Curran and Anne Keothavong at Wimbledon yesterday. The Williams sisters won 6-1, 6-3. - AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)

Serena and Venus Williamsmade a successful return to doubles competition yesterday at Wimbledon.

Back together for the first time since 2003, the sisters beat Claire Curran and Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-1, 6-3 in the first round at the All England Club, not long after Venus Williams reached the third round in singles.

"I feel like if I'm playing bad, am really down, I know Serena can do it - we both have that confidence in each other," Venus said. "We're always so positive with each other."

The sisters won Wimbledon doubles championships in 2000 and 2002, part of their six Grand Slam titles as a tandem.

Another pair of American siblings also won their doubles opener yesterday: twins Bob and Mike Bryan. The defending champions defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

In singles, Venus next meets Akiko Morigama; a win there would set up a fourth-round match against 2004 champion Maria Sharapova. The second-seeded Russian won her second-round match 6-0, 6-3 over Severine Bremond of France at Centre Court, which doesn't have an overhang this year as part of work to build a retractable roof.

"It's like someone took the torch from the Statue of Liberty. It's like they took the Arc from the Arc de Triomphe," Sharapova said. "It's my favourite court to play on, but it's definitely so weird, the atmosphere."

Venus Williams, who was two points from losing her first singles match, had no such trouble in a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Hana Sromova of the Czech Republic in the second round.

She smacked nine aces and won every first-set point when she got her first serve in.

"My serve is pretty dynamic right now," she said. "It's definitely winning me a lot of points. Meanwhile England's 32-year-old Tim Henman, playing in his 14th Wimbledon, fought back from two sets down against Spain's Feliciano Lopez but faded in the final set yesterday and lost 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 2-6, 6-1.

It's the third year in a row that Henman - a four-time semi-finalist - has gone out in the second round, and came amid speculation in the British media that this might be his last Wimbledon appearance.

Will he be back next year?

"Absolutely," he said. "I'm not going to play forever, but I'm passionate about what I do. I love what I do. I want to make the most of it."