Venus Williams advances at her 19th Wimbledon

Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska plays against USA player Madison Keys during their women’s quarter-final match on day eight of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7, 2015.

James Ward recovered from an “ugly start” to give world number one Novak Djokovic a decent test to start the defence of his Wimbledon title.

Playing the first set on the Center Court, he pushed through with an impressive 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in just over two hours. Ward broke to 30 in the fifth game of a competitive second set, which saw Djokovic saved three break points at 5-5.

Sam Querrey came all the way back after losing the first two sets to pull out a 12-10 victory in the fifth and reach the second round at Wimbledon.

Shelby Rogers couldn’t recreate the magic she had in Paris last month at Wimbledon on Monday.

Among the seeded men who advanced: No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 6 Milos Raonic, No. 9 Marin Cilic, No. 11 David Goffin, No. 13 David Ferrer, No. 16 Gilles Simon, No. 23 Ivo Karlovic and No. 27 Jack Sock.

In the women’s tournament, number eight seed and five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams progressed with a close straight-set win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6, 6-4.

In the tournament’s first big surprise, former top-ranked Ana Ivanovic was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by Ekaterina Alexandrova, a Russian qualifier ranked 223rd and making her Grand Slam debut.

For the women French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, the second seed at Wimbledon, was extended to three sets before winning her first-round match. A 7-5 6-3 3-6 6-3 defeat for Kohlschreiber not only means an early exit, but also that he has gone home in the first round of all three grand slams in 2016. Williams ran through the tiebreaker. She said she plans to take time off and not play until the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.

The 36-year-old’s vast experience eventually proved decisive as she saw off the 19-year-old in a hard-fought clash lasting one hour and 52 minutes on Court One. “The first set, there were some hairy moments there, down some set points, but I guess that’s where experience sets in”.

The Rogers-Lisicki showdown is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. Charleston time in the day’s first match out on court 18.