Tennis: Fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo got her Wimbledon title defence off to a speedy start with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Jamea Jackson in just over an hour today.
Mauresmo had an early scare when Jackson, the world number 158, had a break point in the opening game. However, she saved that with an ace and the American put her next service return into the net.
After that it was business as usual for Mauresmo, who displayed her grasscourt skills in front of a chilly Centre Court only two thirds full.
Jackson grew in confidence in the second set, approaching the net more often and saving three break points at 4-2 down but in the end the 20-year-old was no match for the champion.
Speakig afterwards Mauresmo said that playing on the roofless Centre Court was a very different experience from last year. The All England Club is in the middle of a three-year modernisation project which includes building a retractable roof over the main show court.
"It seems like it's completely another court," said Mauresmo of the arena where she won the title last year. "It's lost a bit of its intimacy. It's not that it's better or not as good, it's just different."
Yorkshire's Katie O'Brien earlier became the first British player into the second round at Wimbledon with a hard-fought victory over Germany's Sandra Kloesel.
O'Brien, the British number one, also recorded her first victory at the All England Club in four attempts with the 6-3 7-5 win on court 17.
O'Brien will now face Dutch girl Michaella Krajicek - sister of the 1996 Wimbledon champion Michael - in round two. Krajicek beat Israel's Tzipora Obziler 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-1.
However, Elena Baltacha is out, beaten in three sets by 19th seed Katarina Srebotnik.
Anne Keothavong was another Brit who failed to make it into the second round, losing 6-2, 6-0 against third seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
Number 10 seed Daniela Hantuchova made swift progress this afternoon by thrashing Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.
"Tactically I played very smart. I have started to feel really good on grass," she said, having needed less than an hour on court.
Hantuchova, 24, will face another Russian, Elena Likhovtseva in the second round after her three-set win over Italy's Maria Camerin.
Compatriot and eight seed Anna Chakvetadze beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5 6-3.
One Russian seed out, though, is Olga Poutchkova, who was beaten 6-1 6-3 by her compatriot Elena Vesnina.