Holder Venus Williams launched her bid for a sixth Wimbledon title with a competitive 6-3, 6-2 victory over Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele on Tuesday.
Venus, bidding for her third straight championship, mixed fine athleticism and choice shot selection on Centre Court to book a place in the second round against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko in an hour and 15 minutes.
Venus cracked 14 winners as she raced through the opening set in just 32 minutes before the Swiss world number 97 found her form and made more of a game in it in the second.
The American finally broke the resistance of Voegele, who cites her foe's sister Serena as her childhood hero, with a break in the seventh game of the second and she served out for a satisfying victory sealed with a forehand winner.
Serbia's Jelena Jankovic overcame a medical timeout to get through her first-round match against Germany's Julia Goerges 6-4, 7-6.
Jankovic, the sixth seed who has never passed the fourth round at Wimbledon, stormed through the opening set in 45 minutes in her first meeting with the 20-year-old German.
The Serb had a medical timeout at the end of the first set for treatment to the soles of her feet and it seemed to hit her rhythm as her German opponent raced to a 5-2 lead.
But Jankovic pulled level and raced away to win the tiebreak 7-0 and set up a second-round clash with the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova, who beat Britain's Katie O'Brien 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Results:
7-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Georgie Stoop (Britain) 7-6(0) 4-6, 6-4
Vera Dushevina (Russia) beat 22-Alize Cornet (France) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
18-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2
Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) beat Katie O'Brien (Britain) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Olga Govortsova (Belarus) beat Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukraine) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
3-Venus Williams (U.S.) beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-2
9-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Kimiko Date Krumm (Japan) 5-7 6-3 6-1
6-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Julia Goerges (Germany) 6-4, 7-6(0)
Tatjana Malek (Germany) beat Jelena Dokic (Australia) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-4
Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Anastasija Sevastova
(Latvia) 6-3, 7-6(5)
19-Li Na (China) beat Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) 7-6(5), 6-0