2018 champion Angelique Kerber of Germany held off a comeback by Kristina Mladenovic of France before notching a 6-0, 7-5 victory and advancing into the second round of Wimbledon.
In her 51st consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance, No.15 seed Kerber took just over an hour to collect her 83rd match-win on grass in her career. Among active players, only Serena Williams and Venus Williams have more match-wins on grass than Kerber.
Draw analysis | Order of Play | Wimbledon 411
"Wimbledon is really a special place, especially for me where I won this tournament once, playing [semifinals] so many times as well," Kerber said in her post-match press conference. "Coming back here, seeing the crowd, seeing family, faces, it feels so good to be back here.
"It's always a tough tournament where you have to play your best. I don't know, I think I can play always like a few percent better [here] than in other tournaments."
2018 champion @AngeliqueKerber secures her place in the second round, beating Kristina Mladenovic, 6-0, 7-5#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/4bBTtmw31v
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2022
Match breakdown: Former World No.1 Kerber, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist last year and a runner-up in 2016, romped through the opening set in 16 minutes. She took a commanding 6-0, 2-0 lead over Mladenovic, who reached a career-high ranking of World No.10 in 2017.
Mladenovic found fierce forehands to pull back level with Kerber up to 5-5 in the second set. However, Kerber's movement and rally tolerance helped the German reclaim the break at 6-5, and she clinched victory in the next game with a backhand winner on her first match point.
Kerber finished the day with 16 winners to Mladenovic's 20, but the Frenchwoman fired 27 unforced errors while former titlist Kerber had only 12 miscues.
Wimbledon Day 2: Serena is back, Swiatek opens Centre Court
Next up for Kerber will be Poland's Magda Linette, who defeated Mexican qualifier Fernanda Contreras Gomez 6-1, 6-4. Linette has pulled off three Top 10 wins at Grand Slams in her career, but Kerber recently defeated Linette en route to the Strasbourg title last month.
"I know the tour already very well, I'm one of the older generation," Kerber said with a smile. "But I still feel the love for the sport. I practice well. I'm healthy. This is always the most important thing. If you can still play good tennis and be on top, it's always the motivation that gives me to practice and to perform good."
Juvan shocks Haddad Maia
Also on Monday, Kaja Juvan of Slovenia pulled off a significant upset in the first round by defeating No.23 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in just under two hours.
Haddad Maia had been one of the hottest players this season and particularly once the tour hit grass. The Brazilian won her first two titles back-to-back on the lawns of Nottingham and Birmingham and is currently at a career-high ranking of No.28.
In fact, Haddad Maia had built a 12-match winning streak on grass before falling to Petra Kvitova in last week's Eastbourne semifinals. That run marked the most consecutive tour-level wins on grass since Serena Williams won 20 straight on the surface between 2015 and 2018.
But World No.62 Juvan dashed the Brazilian's hopes, beating Haddad Maia for the first time in their three meetings. Juvan won a superlative 83 percent of points behind her first delivery and dropped serve only once in the clash.
It is the second straight year Juvan has pulled off an upset in the first round of Wimbledon -- last year, she ousted Belinda Bencic en route to a third-round showing.
Juvan will next meet Hungary's Dalma Galfi in the second round. Galfi overcame Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 15 minutes on Monday.
