NEWS:THE PRINCIPAL task of Venus Williams in the first few days, it seems, is to knock down half of the British wild-card entries in this year's draw.

The American title holder yesterday disposed of the 197th-ranked Naomi Cavaday over two sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in her first game of the tournament and next up meets the local girl Anne Keothavong, who beat America's Vania King in three sets yesterday.

Lindsay Davenport also advanced, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, against Renata Voracova, taking a very unstable looking knee as well as the most talked about baby in sport, Jagger, with her into round two.

"He's doing just great," said Davenport on the important issue. "Almost walking, very energetic. Yeah, he's here."

Joining her in round two are a confident Maria Sharapova and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

The 21-year-old Russian, a 2004 winner, crushed Stephanie Foretz 6-1 in the first set before tying up the match 6-4 in the second.

Jankovic, the second seed, also advanced without a scare, beating Olga Savchuk over two sets 6-3, 6-2 in the Centre Court gloaming.

But if it was a fight, however brief, that fans sought, it was Cavaday's first set against Williams that jerked emotions around the Centre Court.

Venus, as her sister Serena did in her first match, took some time to adjust to the battling Cavaday, who like many players in the field of 128 was trying to bridge a chasm of standards.

Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner and six-time major runner-up, against a wild-card entry who had not in two previous attempts advanced past the first round of the competition seemed like a gross mismatch.

Williams has won over €11.6 million in prize money, Cavaday almost €56,075.

But the left-hander, playing in front of a home crowd on Centre Court, did enough in the early stages to fire hope she might take the first set off the reigning champion and turn it into a more edgy affair for Williams.

Bucking convention, she broke Williams's serve in the first game after the 27-year-old had an altercation with a winged insect that landed on her leg. Williams at 40-0 up seemed totally in control with her heavy serve until the creature, identified by the player as a bumble bee, interjected and changed the course of the set.

From game point Williams double faulted before going on to have a minor collapse and offer first blood to Cavaday. While Williams was hitting deliveries at 125mph to Cavaday's 95mph, it seemed the Bollettieri-based Cavaday would quickly capitulate.

But if the famed Florida tennis academy teaches players one thing it is to hit successfully from the base line.

Cavaday's forehand and genuine battling qualities had Williams pressurised but it would have taken a biblical-sized swarm of stingers to totally unseat the title-holder.

Williams broke back in the sixth game when the 19-year-old from Chislehurst hit a put-away forehand long. Instead of moving to 40-0 and squeezing Williams she was at 30-15. Williams clawed her way back and levelled for 3-3.

The set then went to a tiebreak and although Williams occasionally appeared to be building a reasonable platform out of her own errors for Cavaday to exploit, the American saw out the set 7-6 for a 1-0 lead.

But that was as much as the homester could give. Cavaday burned brightly for the first 56 minutes of play but took less than half of that time to fizzle out in the second set, which she did in just 21 minutes, Williams taking the set 6-1.

"I love to get stuck into matches. I gave it my best," said the Briton. Williams didn't spoil the mood and was generous in her praise of the younger woman's poise and pluck.

"She took her chances, really took advantage of her opportunities. I thought she did really well with that. She served well and really returned the ball with force, so I was impressed with her game."

On the bee issue, last year's winner did not seem too anxious that it had cost her a service game. She also showed she is no entomologist.

"I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. I looked down. It was a bee, a big old bumble bee. I was trying to get it to go off. I don't know if they sting or not. Do they? The big bumble bees, do they?"

Well, not as much as Cavaday would have had Williams lost in the first round as she did in 1997. She went out in the second round in 2004, having won the championship in 2000 and 2001 and went out in the third round in 2006, having won the title for the third time in 2005.

Never back or write off a Williams.