Serena Williams began her Wimbledon campaign with a flawless performance as she swept aside Viktorija Golubic 6-3 6-1 in the first round on Tuesday..
The seven-time champion, playing in her first singles match since the French Open in May, showed no signs of rust as she dominated from the start on Centre Court..
Williams broke her Swiss opponent’s serve in the opening game and never looked back, winning the first set in 32 minutes..
Golubic, ranked 53rd in the world, briefly threatened a comeback early in the second set when she broke Williams’ serve to level at 1-1..
But the American star responded immediately, breaking back to love and then holding her serve to take a 3-1 lead..
Williams was in complete control from that point, winning the next four games to seal the victory in just 67 minutes..
The 40-year-old, who is one Grand Slam title behind Margaret Court’s record of 24, will face unseeded Harmony Tan of France in the second round..
In other first-round action on Tuesday, second seed Ons Jabeur beat Mirjam Bjorklund 6-1 6-3, while third seed Maria Sakkari overcame Tatjana Maria 6-3 6-2..
Fourth seed Paula Badosa also advanced, defeating Anna Blinkova 6-2 6-2, while fifth seed Caroline Garcia beat Eden Silva 6-1 6-2..
Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova was the only seeded player to lose on Tuesday, going down 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 9-7 to Katie Boulter of Great Britain..
In the men’s draw, top seed Novak Djokovic beat Soonwoo Kwon 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4, while second seed Rafael Nadal overcame Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4..
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, while fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Alexander Ritschard 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 5-7 6-4..
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev beat Dominic Thiem 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-2, while sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Maxime Cressy 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-5)..
Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz beat Alexander Bublik 6-3 7-5 6-2, while eighth seed Casper Ruud defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (9-7) 6-2..
