Serena and Maria survive first day

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Williams, the second seed behind world number one Dinara Safina, beat Portugal's Neuza Silva in straight sets on Centre Court, but was made to work hard in the second set, which she took 7-5.

The American raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set before taking it 6-1, but Silva improved in the second to give a good account of herself on her grand slam debut at the age of 26.

Earlier in the day, another former champion, Russia's Maria Sharapova, was also made to work hard to beat Viktoriya Kutuzova 7-5 6-4.

Sharapova has been seeded 24th despite being ranked just 60th in the world as she continues her comeback from a long injury lay-off.

The 22-year-old was out for nine months with a shoulder problem and admitted she is still short of full fitness.

Elsewhere, there were also victories for eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, who had taken the first set 6-2 against Severine Bremond Beltrame when the Frenchwoman was forced to retire through injury, and 16th seed Jie Zheng.

Zheng, a surprise semi-finalist here last year, beat Germany's Kristina Barrois in two tie-breaks, and will face former quarter-finalist Daniela Hantuchova in the second round after Hantuchova recovered from a set down to beat 15-year-old British wild-card entry Laura Robson - the junior champion from 2008.

Tenth seed Nadia Petrova enjoyed the easiest win of the day, beating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-1 6-1, while number 28 Sorana Cirstea - who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open recently - won an all-Romanian battle 7-5 6-1 against Edina Gallovits.

The first seed to fall was Canada's Alexandra Wozniak, the 23rd seed losing 4-6 6-4 6-4 to Italy's Francesca Schiavone.