Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka, bidding to win a first Wimbledon crown, had little trouble before seeing off Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine with a 6-1, 7-5 win on Monday.
Sabalenka won the opening five games against part-time model Branstine but was made to work harder after that, winning the second set via tie-break to seal passage into round two.
Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, Jasmine Paolini, was also pushed hard by Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova before the fourth seed came out on top with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova of the United States is through to the second round after inflicting a double bagel on Yulia Putintseva in a 6-0, 6-0 win.
Elina Svitolina beat Anna Boindar in straight sets while 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova continued her return to form by knocking out American 30th seed McCartney Kessler.
Vondrousova will now meet Emma Raducanu in the second round after the British number one women’s player cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Brit, Mimi Xu.
It was a good day for British players as Katie Boulter knocked out Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Centre Court, while Sonay Kartal upset 20th seed and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in another first round match.