Wimbledon 2018, Day 1: Match Points

LEARNING

Serena and Venus Williams have won the most grass-court titles among active players: Serena has won eight and Venus has won five. All of those titles have been Wimbledon championships except for Serena's 2012 Olympic title -- which also took place at the All-England Club.

No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who won the Nature Valley International last week, plays on Centre Court on Monday against American Varvara Lepchenko. Wozniacki has beaten Lepchenko in six of their seven meetings, with Lepchenko's only win coming on the hardcourts of Stanford in 2016.

No.13 seed Julia Goerges of Germany has hit a WTA-leading 257 aces in 35 matches this season. She is followed by three Czechs: No.7 seed Karolina Pliskova (238 aces in 38 matches), her twin sister Kristyna Pliskova (219 in 27 matches), and No.8 seed Petra Kvitova (184 in 41 matches).

7th-seeded Karolina Pliskova has yet to make the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but a final eight appearance this year will give her quarterfinal showings at all of the Grand Slam tournaments throughout her career. Pliskova takes on British wild card Harriet Dart for the first time. Dart defeated Pliskova's twin sister Kristyna last week in Eastbourne for her debut WTA main draw match victory.

Read more: Getting to know you: Introducing Wimbledon 2018's Grand Slam debutantes

Serena and Venus Williams are two of the five players to reach the Wimbledon final nine or more times – Navratilova (12 finals, 9-3 record in those finals), Evert (10 finals, 3-7 record), Graf (9 finals, 7-2 record), S. Williams (9 finals, 7-2 record), and V. Williams (9 finals, 5-4 record).

The Top 4 seeds at Wimbledon are the current reigning Grand Slam champions – No.1 Simona Halep (2018 Roland Garros), No.2 Caroline Wozniacki (2018 Australian Open), No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza (2017 Wimbledon), and No.4 Sloane Stephens (2017 US Open).

World No.1 Simona Halep will extend her stay atop the WTA Rankings during Wimbledon to 36 weeks. Halep has held the No.1 spot for 36 of the last 40 weeks, including a current streak of 20 consecutive weeks (since February 26, 2018).

Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens will challenge Halep for the World No.1 ranking at Wimbledon, although they will require deep runs into the second week. Wozniacki would need to reach the final in order to have a chance of overtaking Halep. If Halep reaches the semifinals, then Wozniacki would need to win the title. Stephens would need to win the title with Halep losing in first round AND Wozniacki not advancing to the final.

TRENDING

READING

18 months after being attacked in her home, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova discusses her road back to being a contender again with Bonnie D. Ford of ESPNW. (Warning: graphic imagery.)

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams tells British Vogue about the things which have caused "the biggest impact on her life and career."

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mail, seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams joined her friend Meghan Markle to watch Markle's new husband Prince Harry play a charity polo match.

Paul Newman of The Independent reports that World No.1 Simona Halep is trying to stay grounded following her maiden Grand Slam title last month in Paris.

ORDER OF PLAY

Check out all of Day 1's scheduled women's matches on the WTA website here.

For full Order of Play and to watch live streaming, visit Wimbledon's official site.