Serena Williams labors to 1st round Wimbledon win

She converted five of the nine break points on Sadikovic’s serve and saved four of the five break points on her own serve. I needed to be pumped for the match. And it is why, despite being the oldest woman in the singles draw at 36, she looks in good shape to go deep in her favourite grand slam.

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.

Vekic produced startling groundstrokes at times, but eighth seed Williams maintained her composure, increasing the pressure when things got tight as her opponent wilted in the spotlight.

Amra Sadikovic, a 27-year-old Swiss player who is facing Serena Williams in the first round Tuesday, playing at Wimbledon has been a dream 18 years in the making – except for a 14-month stretch in which she gave up on it entirely.

By turns urging herself on and telling herself off, Williams eventually secured match point when her opponent just missed a lob and sealed victory after challenging a wrong call when her shot landed on the far baseline. She screamed at herself and flailed her arms in attempts to psyche herself up.

Williams’s last Grand Slam victory came at Wimbledon a year ago, a triumph that ensured she held all four Major titles at the same time.

There was the usual banter as the world No.2’s coach kept the mood light during final preparations and then it was strictly business once Murray stepped out on Wimbledon’s Centre Court against Liam Broady.

The only 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 at the All England Club came in 1987, when Stefan Edberg beat Stefan Eriksson in the first round.

Kerber, who lost to her British rival at the same stage at Wimbledon in 2011, never allowed Robson to gain any kind of momentum as the Briton failed to earn a single break point.

Serena Williams heads into her Wimbledon defence on the back of two major final losses, and Pete Sampras says a lot will depend on her inner drive to succeed. She seemed uncharacteristically hesitant on her second serve, which was slower than this time previous year, and there were a total of 18 unforced errors.

Wozniacki has plummeted to 45th in the world and the Dane fell at the first hurdle, losing 7-5 6-4 to 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova under the roof due to rain which forced play to be suspended on the outside courts. Taro Daniel 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Timea Babos d.

Earlier, Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka defeated American teenager Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 to set-up a second round blockbuster against Juan Martin del Potro.

No. 15 Nick Kyrgios kept his cool – and hit another between-the-legs victor – as he beat 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-1. McHale has won one set against Serena in two matches.

“I’m always shouting at myself and pushing myself, so it’s absolutely nothing different”, she said.

The highlight of the match came when Kyrgios hit a between-the-legs “tweener” from behind the baseline that sailed over Stepanek’s head at the net and dropped in for a ideal lob victor in the opening game of the third set.

Kyrgios set up an intriguing second-round match with Dustin Brown, another flashy shot-maker who beat Nadal here past year.