7.30am
LONDON - Champion and top seed Serena Williams ironed out a number of Wimbledon wrinkles on Tuesday to reach the second round with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Zheng Jie.
The American, whose last match on grass was in the final here last year when she beat elder sister Venus, took
a while to warm up on a windswept Centre Court before imposing her will on the Chinese player.
Wearing an all-white outfit with snow-white headband, Serena looked every inch the champion as she took to the court.
Her movement was not as slick as it might have been but it was enough to see off 52nd-ranked Zheng.
The Chinese baseliner battled gamely but she was no match for the power and match savvy of Williams who slowly edged herself to victory despite spraying as many errors as she hit thumping winners.
Williams broke in the first game of the match. She was briefly threatened on her own serve in the fourth game but held from love-40 down.
Zheng, playing at Wimbledon for the first time, refused to be cowed but Williams was simply too powerful, breaking again for 6-3 when she smashed a high lob into the open court on set point after half an hour of play.
The 22-year-old American opened her powerful shoulders on her next service game and crunched four unstoppable deliveries at her opponent.
Zheng was powerless and running out of ideas. Williams broke her again for 2-0 and then held, despite a glut of sloppy errors, for a 3-0 lead.
Another break for 4-0 and the Chinese player's spirit was broken.
She won one more game -- largely thanks to some awful returning from the champion -- before Williams finally made it past the finishing line moments later.
Women's singles first round matches on Tuesday (prefix denotes seeding):
Magui Serna (Spain) beat 30-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-4 6-2
Virginie Razzano (France) beat 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4
25-Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-3 6-4
Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Gala Leon Garcia (Spain) 6-2 6-2
15-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat Akiko Morigami (Japan) 6-4 6-1
Jane O'Donoghue (Britain) beat Lindsay Lee-Waters (US) 2-6 6-3 6-3
Karolina Sprem (Croatia) beat Laura Granville (US) 2-6 6-1 6-4
10-Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-3 2-6 6-4
Stephanie Foretz (France) beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (France) 6-1 6-3
Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 3-6 6-1 6-4
Elena Baltacha (Britain) beat Marta Marrero (Spain) 6-1 6-3
Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) beat Martina Sucha (Slovakia) 6-1 6-0
Sandra Kleinova (Czech Republic) beat 6-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-4 1-6 6-4
1-Serena Williams (US) beat Zheng Jie (China) 6-3 6-1
32-Meghann Shaughnessy (US) beat Marissa Irvin (US) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-0)
Marion Bartoli (France) beat 17-Chanda Rubin (US) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3
Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) beat Anca Barna (Germany) 7-5 6-2
Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Samantha Reeves (US) 6-1 6-4
Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) beat Anna-lena Groenefeld (Germany) 6-2 6-0
Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) beat Petra Mandula (Hungary) 6-3 6-3
20-Elena Bovina (Russia) beat Edina Gallovits (Romania) 6-1 6-2.
- REUTERS
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7.30am
LONDON - Champion and top seed Serena Williams ironed out a number of Wimbledon wrinkles on Tuesday to reach the second round with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Zheng Jie.
The American, whose last match on grass was in the final here last year when she beat elder sister Venus, took
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