Wimbledon - Women's Draw: Defending women's champion Venus Williams overcame a shaky start to follow her sister, Serena, into the Wimbledon second round with a 7-6 6-1 victory over British wildcard Naomi Cavaday.
The American was given a tougher than expected workout on Centre Court by the Englishwoman, ranked 197th in the world, who matched the seventh seed stroke for stroke in the opening set before wilting in the second.
"She played a great match, put a lot of pace on the ball and made me make some errors," Williams said as she left the court. "But I always felt confident. I felt good out there and I'm always looking to improve."
It was far from vintage Williams, who has not reached a final in her seven events this year and again declined to hone her game on grass in the lead-up to the tournament.
From 40-0 up on her opening serve Williams was distracted by an insect buzzing around her ankles. She fended it off with an irritated swat but, with her concentration interrupted, Cavaday reeled off five successive points to break.
Cavaday, who came within a whisker of dumping out former world number one Martina Hingis in the first round 12 months ago but spurned two match points, confidently held her first two service games as a clearly rattled Williams struggled to find her rhythm.
The English left-hander peppered the flanks with raking forehands and double-handed backhands that produced a torrent of clean winners.
Recovering her composure, Williams broke back at the second opportunity in the sixth game when Cavaday tamely netted and the opening set was decided by a tie-break.
Cavaday hit back from 4-2 down to level but a netted backhand handed Williams two set points and although Cavaday saved the first, the American took the set when her opponent again netted from a high-kicking second serve.
Williams raced through the second set in just 21 minutes as Cavaday's consistency unravelled, taking the match with a crisp forehand winner.
Williams is seeking to join a select handful of players - including Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf - who have won at least five singles titles at the citadel of grasscourt tennis.
She next faces Anna Keothavong, the highest-ranked British woman who beat Vania King of the US 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Flavia Pennetta became the first seeded player to win on the second day of Wimbledon, beating Julia Vakulenko in straight sets.
Pennetta, the 22nd seed from Italy, won 6-3 6-4 and will face Ai Sugiyama, a winner over Yanina Wickmayer.
Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 31, also won through in straight sets, the Dane beating Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic 6-2 7-5.
In a nightmare for commentators and umpires alike, Wozniacki will face Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in round two.
Hungarian 15th seed Agnes Szavay will meet Monica Niculescu in round two after the Romanian defeated Magdalena Rybarikova 1-6 6-3 6-4 in a match which began on Monday evening.
India's 32nd seed Sania Mirza, who recently returned to action after a wrist injury, twice had to have treatment for a shoulder problem before beating Catalina Castano.
Mirza beat the Colombian 7-6 3-6 6-4 to win through to a meeting with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.
Sybille Bammer was let off the hook by an injury to Sofie Arvidsson, who was forced to retire hurt after taking the first set off the 26th seed.
After losing the opener 6-4, Bammer led 4-1 in the second set when Arvidsson withdrew.
Victoria Azarenka, the 16th seed from Belarus made light work of beating Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, winning 6-1 6-1.