Defending Men’s champion, Novak Djokovic got off to a flying start when he defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court while the French Open champion, Stanislas Wawrinka, also advanced with a 6-2 7-5 7-6 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Fifth seeded, Kei Nishikori was made to work for his 6-3 6-7 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over Simone Bolelli of Italy.
Milos Raonic (7), Marin Cilic (9) and Grigor Dimitrov (11) also advanced to the second round.
South African hopeful, Kevin Anderson needed four sets to defeat Frenchman, Lucas Pouille 6-2 7-5 3-6 6-3. Anderson, who has been in the news again about his availability for the South African Davis Cup Team, has now ended speculation and confirmed that participating in the Davis Cup would require too many sacrifices in his schedule and that he will indefinitely be unavailable for selection.
Serena Williams needed just over an hour to send Russian, Margarita Gasparyan packing. The score was 6-4 6-1. Maria Sharapova made quick work of local lass, Johanna Konta, with a 6-2 6-2 win.
Ninth seeded, Carla Suarez Navarro was the first casualty in the Ladies’ draw. She lost to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-2 6-0.
Lucie Safarova (6) and Ana Ivanovic (7) also advanced to the second round.
Venus Williams scored her 74th Wimbledon win in style, when she defeated fellow American, Madison Brengle with a double bagel 6-0 6-0. She is now level with Steffi Graf on the list of “Most Ladies’ Singles wins at Wimbledon in the Open Era”. Martina Navratilova tops the list with 120 wins, Chris Evert is second with 96 wins, Graf and Venus Williams are tied third, Serena Williams is just one win shy of them and Billie Jean King has 65 wins.
But the day inevitably belonged to the 2002 Champion – Lleyton Hewitt from Australia, who was participating in his last Wimbledon. His match against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland did not disappoint. It lasted four hours on a packed Court 2 and with plenty of support for both players. Nieminen came up trumps with a 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-0 11-9 win, whilst Hewitt received a thoroughly deserved standing ovation from everyone on the court.