Iga Swiatek soared into the second round at Wimbledon, after beginning her latest quest for a maiden title with a straight-sets win over Sofia Kenin.
The top seed, who is aiming to progress beyond the quarter-finals at SW19 for the first time, prevailed 6-3 6-4 in the battle of the Grand Slam champions after 79 minutes on No.1 Court.
Swiatek had won the two previous meetings between the players - both of which came in major events, at the 2020 French Open final and this year's Australian Open.
The four-time Roland-Garros winner made a statement of intent, breaking her opponent twice in her opponent's first two service games on the way to taking the opening set.
Former Australian Open champion Kenin, who stunned Coco Gauff in the first round 12 months ago, looked to respond and forced a break-point opportunity at 4-3 down in the second set.
However, the American saw it go begging as she sent a forehand into the net, and the set remained on serve as Swiatek set up a second-round clash with Croatia's Petra Martic.
"On this surface, it's not about the result for me, about the progress," the Pole said in her on-court interview. "I'm just trying to be better every day.
"It was a solid start and not an easy draw, so I'm happy that I have a chance to play another match here. It's not easy to play a Grand Slam champion in the first round, so we have to be ready for everything.
"Obviously, I had a great beginning of the season, so I feel like I can come here and not worry about points or anything, and just focus on what I want to focus on. These are experienced players, so there’s no time to get into the tournament."
Data Debrief: Super Swiatek matches Henin and Radwanska
Swiatek arrived at Wimbledon with five titles to her name already this season, including three on the spin in Madrid, Rome and the French Open.
The world number one has now won each of her last 20 matches, achieving that feat for the second time in her career. Justine Henin in 2005 was the last player to register multiple streaks of 20+ WTA match wins before turning 24.
Notching her fifth straight win against a former major champion, Swiatek has now registered 72 Grand Slam singles wins, more than any other woman since the turn of the century.
She is also only the second player in the Open Era to win in the opening round of all the first 18 major events in a single decade, after compatriot Agnieszka Radwanska did so in the 2010s.
Wimbledon: Hurkacz and Tsitsipas fall in round two as Zverev and Fritz surge on
Hubert Hurkacz was the highest-profile casualty on day four of the Wimbledon men's singles, with the seventh seed forced to retire injured during his clash with Arthur Fils.
The Pole beat Roger Federer on the way to reaching the semi-finals in 2021, while he was runner-up to new world number one Jannik Sinner in Halle last month.
However, when trailing by two sets to one against his French opponent, Hurkacz sustained a knee injury during the tie-break in the fourth.
Despite valiantly attempting to battle on, he aggravated the problem further soon after when diving for a return, and was subsequently unable to continue with Fils advancing to round three.
There, he will play Alex de Minaur after the ninth seed enjoyed a straight-sets victory over Jaume Munar.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev also prevailed in three sets as he continued his rich vein of form. The Italian Open champion, who was also runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland-Garros, was a commanding 6-1 6-2 6-4 winner over Marcos Giron.
Next up for him is Cameron Norrie after the 2022 semi-finalist ousted compatriot Jack Draper in a battle of the Brits on No.1 Court.
Eastbourne champion Taylor Fritz overcame Arthur Rinderknech in four sets, as did 15th seed Holger Rune against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov recovered from two sets down to beat Juncheng Shang in a decider. The 2014 semi-finalist will now play Gael Monfils, who completed a straight-sets victory over fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka.
Although, there was no joy for 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two-time major finalist was beaten in four sets by world number 87 Emil Ruusuvuori.
Murray receives emotional Centre Court tribute after doubles defeat
Andy Murray said he wished he could play on forever after his final Wimbledon began with a doubles defeat alongside brother Jamie on an emotional Centre Court.
Murray and brother Jamie suffered a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 defeat to Australian pair John Peers and Rinky Hijikata, two days after he announced he would not participate in the singles.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who underwent back surgery just over a week ago, has since announced he will pair up with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles.
Following his doubles match on Thursday, the likes of John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic were invited onto Centre Court for an emotional ceremony to mark his achievements at the tournament, which he won in 2013 and 2016.
In an interview with BBC Sport's Sue Barker, Murray said of teaming up with his elder brother: "It was obviously really special, I never had the chance to do it before.
"The way things worked out, there was a chance this year and it was a race against time.
"Physically it wasn't easy but I'm glad we could get out here and do it just one time together."
Murray has repeatedly said he will retire at the end of 2024, with an appearance at the Paris Olympics now his target.
Speaking about his impending retirement, Murray said: "It's hard. I would love to keep playing but I physically can't, it's too tough now.
"The injuries have added up and they haven't been insignificant. I want to play forever. I love the sport, it's given me so much and taught me so many lessons."
Reflecting on his two victories at SW19, Murray said the pressure of winning his first grand slam title meant he could not fully enjoy the 2013 success, but opened up on the big celebrations that followed his second triumph.
"I didn't really enjoy it as much as I should have done, I just found it very, very stressful," Murray said. "2016 was different.
"I felt way less pressure and the enjoyment I got out of that win was amazing, I could enjoy it with the people closest to me.
"Of the slams, that was my favourite one. I don't remember much of that night, I had a few drinks and I did unfortunately vomit in the cab on the way home!"
Wimbledon: Swiatek into third round with routine win over Martic
Iga Swiatek underlined her status as favourite in the women's draw at Wimbledon by beating Petra Martic in straight sets on Thursday to reach the third round.
The world number one, who has never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals at SW19, was a 6-4 6-3 victor in one hour and 20 minutes on Centre Court.
Martic held her own until the 10th game of the opening set but the first break point she gave up was converted by Swiatek, who came through strong pressure in several games on her own serve.
The second set followed a similar pattern, Swiatek needing two break points this time as she made the breakthrough eight games in.
Martic was a beaten player from there as Swiatek served out her final game to love, a crashing forehand winner teeing up three match points, and a big serve on the first giving world number 79 Martic no chance.
Data Debrief: Swiatek replicates Serena run
Swiatek has now won 21 consecutive matches as world number one, the longest such streak by any player on the WTA Tour since Serena Williams had an identical run between the 2014 WTA Finals and the 2015 Madrid Open.
She has also made at least the round of 32 at 18 consecutive grand slams.
In the Open Era, only Martina Navratilova (35), Conchita Martinez (30), Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (25) and Steffi Graf (19) have ever done so at more majors in a row.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
