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Wimbledon - Serena Williams began the defence of her Wimbledon title with a comfortable first-round win on Tuesday, relying on an overpowering serve to beat 17-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-0, 6-4.
Williams won all 27 points on her first serve and hit 15 aces, the last on her final shot. As the crowd applauded her victory, Williams curtsied, mindful Queen Elizabeth II is expected to visit Wimbledon for the first time since 1977 on Thursday.
Williams plays her second-round match that day and has been practicing her curtsy.
"I want it to be more natural," she said. "Right now it feels really forced. Seems like I've never done a curtsy before, which may be true. But I'm looking forward to nailing it."
The Queen may also get to see top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who advanced by beating Japanese wild card Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. It was Nadal's first match at Wimbledon since he became the 2008 champion; he missed last year's tournament because of knee tendinitis.
"For me it was a very special moment to come back to this, probably the nicest Centre Court in the world," Nadal said. "I'm enjoying a lot to be back in my favorite tournament."
Nadal was in control from the start against Nishikori, and the Spaniard lost serve only once while committing just 16 unforced errors.
Nadal, who won his fifth French Open title this month, is seeded second at Wimbledon to six-time champion Roger Federer. The two rivals could meet in the final.
Neither French Open women's finalist survived the first round. Runner-up Samantha Stosur, ranked a career-high sixth, lost to Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-4, while Roland Garros winner Francesca Schiavone lost on Monday.
"No doubt it's a quick turnaround," Stosur said. "The champions of the game can do it back to back. That's the kind of pedestal that you want to try to look up to and try to get to yourself."
In other matches, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova edged Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4, No. 7-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-3, 6-3 and No. 10 Flavia Pennetta of Italy beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-4, 6-0.
In men's play, No. 9 David Ferrer beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Robert Kendrick of the United States, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-4.
American Sam Querrey, who won his first career grass-court title at Queen's Club this month, advanced when Ukraine opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky retired because of illness trailing 7-6 (4), 6-3, 2-1. Stakhovsky won the grass title this month at Den Bosch, Netherlands.
No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2), while No. 19 Nicolas Almagro lost 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7), 6-2 to Andreas Seppi of Italy.
Williams played first on Centre Court and remained unbeaten in opening Grand Slam matches. She's 43-0 in the first round at major events.
For her return to Wimbledon on a warm, sunny afternoon, the three-time champion wore a cream dress with red trim.
"Strawberries and cream," she said.
Larcher de Brito, ranked 148th, has three wins over top-20 players but was overwhelmed at the start, needing 33 minutes to win a game. The teenager then began to play better.
"She definitely packs a punch," Williams said. "It was good for me, because most people that do play nowadays hit really hard. It was good to get someone that hit really hard early on."
Results (x denotes seeding):
Men
Sam Querrey (USA x18) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 2-1 retired
Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Oscar Hernandez (ESP) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
Illya Marchenko (UKR) bt Michael Berrer (GER) 6-3, 7-5 retired
Gilles Simon (FRA x26) bt Guillermo Alcaide (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0)
Martin Fischer (AUT) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x13) bt Dudi Sela (ISR) 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2)
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) bt Marc Gicquel (FRA) 6-1, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
Robin Haase (NED) bt James Blake (USA) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP x19) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2
Tobias Kamke (GER) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 5-7, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x10) bt Robert Kendrick (USA) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-4
Florent Serra (FRA) bt Simon Greul (GER) 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-2
Aleksnder Dolgopolov (UKR) bt Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA x25) bt Ricardo Mello (BRA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
David Ferrer (ESP x9) bt Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Andreas Beck (GER) bt Jamie Baker (GBR) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-4
Women
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x7) bt Melinda Czink (HUN) 6-3, 6-3
Flavia Pennetta (ITA x10) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 6-4, 6-0
Zheng Jie (CHN x23) bt Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 7-5, 6-4
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) 6-0, 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x19) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4
Kaia Kanepi (EST) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS x6) 6-4, 6-4
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) bt Anne Keothavong (GBR) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Alberta Brianti (ITA) bt Jill Craybas (USA) 6-2, 7-5
Monica Niculescu (ROM) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 6-3, 6-2
Edina Gallovits (ROM) bt Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Petra Kvitova (CZE) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 6-2, 6-2
