80th Wimbledon win for Serena

Williams will next face compatriot Christine McHale in the second round with Britain’s Heather Watson in the same quarter of the draw.

When she captured her sixth Wimbledon trophy last year, it capped the second time in her career she held all four Grand Slam titles in a non-calendar year.

Williams claimed her 21st slam victory 12 months ago at the All England Club, but has since given up her US, Australian and French Open trophies.

Across the 32 singles matches today – split evenly between men and women – numerous expected winners progressed. Early breaks in the second and third set saw Gavrilova take them 6-3 and 6-4 respectively to reach the round of 64, where she will play Cibulkova. I needed to do that.

Coming into the tournament ranked 45 after injuries to her ankle, knee and wrist, it was the first time Wozniacki, 25, had been unseeded at a major since the 2008 Australian Open and she was visibly gloomy after the match. This shows that She is very greedy for the cup. It happened fast after that. A huge backhand return of serve that Sadikovic took a wild swing at and hit long. She played well. She played aggressively and stepped up when she had to. She screamed at herself and flailed her arms in attempts to psyche herself up.

Minutes after Murray had completed victory, heavy rain brought a halt to action on all courts except Centre Court where the roof was closed.

It was her 80th at Wimbledon and it is clear that Williams will have the crowd on her side as she aims to make history.

Serena Williams, Andy Murray won their first round matches.

However, our final tip of the day comes courtesy of Eugenie Bouchard, with the Canadian star showing us glimpses again recently that she’s overcoming a hard period in her career.

“You’ve got to enjoy the battle because that’s what it is every single time you walk onto the court”.

While Williams is the clear favorite, the woman with the next best chance to win is Muguruza. After more than a year off, giving tennis lessons, she returned. Williams immediately broke back.

“I never underestimate anyone, [it was a] really good match, I don’t think tougher than I thought but it was definitely tough”, said the champion afterwards, per BBC Sport, who was also delighted to see her mum in the Royal Box.

Williams enters Wimbledon maintaining her No. 1 ranking for what will be an impressive 300th week at the top. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked her world No. 1 in singles on six separate occasions. When she did lose to Vinci in the semifinals of the Open, she essentially stopped playing for the rest of the year. Rogers has failed to get past the first round at Wimbledon in four appearances.

Serena Williams left Wimbledon a year ago heading for NY and history: the first calendar grand slam since Steffi Graf’s in 1988 was one win away. They are mostly of her own making. Muguruza most recently beat Williams in the finals of the French Open, and both women are into the second round after winning their openers, though Muguruza struggled with Camila Giorgi on Monday.

Few will expect anything other than a dominant win from the American who will feel as though she has a point to prove over the next fortnight.

“I think more or less about winning Australia”. “Well, maybe not anyone, but I’ve been pretty low”.