[1]London: Five-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams shrugged off her bitter rift with Maria Sharapova to rack up her 32nd successive win with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Luxembourg's Mandy Minella in the first round on Tuesday.
World number one Williams came into her title defence opener at the centre of a storm for her controversial comments on a US high school rape case and for her dig at Sharapova's romance with her own ex-boyfriend, Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov.
The 31-year-old took out her frustrations on the hapless Minella, the world number 92 who has never defeated a top-30 player, let alone one of the calibre of Williams, whose French Open title three weeks ago took her majors haul to 16.
Victory was also her 75th in her last 78 matches, a run that stretches back to her shock first round departure at Roland Garros in 2012, the worst Grand Slam exit of her career.
Tuesday's 32nd successive win took her to within just three of the record set by older sister Venus in 2000.
"I never think about the run, I just treat every match like a new one," said Williams after her 57-minute win.
"It was special coming out as defending champion. I played great and I have some great memories."
Williams did not concede a single point on her serve in the first set but Minella, playing in only her eighth Grand Slam compared to the American's 52nd, at least had the consolation of breaking her opponent's serve for a 2-0 lead in the second set.
But she couldn't capitalise on that slim opening and Williams roared back, finishing the match with 25 winners to Minella's five.
Williams goes on to face French qualifier Caroline Garcia, who she beat in the second round in Paris, for a place in the last 32.
Li Na races into seconf round
Li Na, the Chinese sixth seed, raced into the second round at Wimbledon with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Michaella Krajicek on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old wasted little time on the Court 12 show court as she demolished her Dutch opponent in 67 minutes.
Li, the 2011 French Open champion, faces either Olga Govortsova of Belarus or Romania's Simona Halep in the second round.
Li broke in the first game and broke again to make it 4-1. The Chinese won the first set when Krajicek misfired twice on a deuce.
Li broke early in the second set and did not look back from there, giving her opponent the runaround on the court, the Dutch right-hander scampering from one side to the other behind the baseline.
Krajicek offered some brief resistance on serve to make it 5-1 in the second set, then had break point twice in the next game on deuces.
But Li eventually won it on her third match point when Krajicek sent a return of serve long.
She signed autographs for Chinese fans who mobbed her on the courtside.
Her joy was in stark contrast to her bitter second round exit to America's Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the French Open.
The sixth seed's Wimbledon best was reaching the 2006 and 2010 quarter-finals, though she tumbled in the second round on her last two All England Club outings.
Krajicek, 24, the sister of 1996 men's Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, has dropped to 575 in the world rankings due to injury problems but gained entry into the draw at the All England Club through her protected ranking of 105.
The 2004 US Open girls' champion was making her first Wimbledon appearance since her first round defeat in 2008.
Meanwhile Li's compatriot Zheng Jie missed the chance of setting up a rematch with Serena Williams when she lost in straight sets to 100-ranked French qualifier Caroline Garcia.
Zheng, the world number 47, lost 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes in a clash on the outside courts.
The Chinese had two break points in the match and failed to take either of them.
Garcia now faces defending champion Williams in the second round, should the world number one see off Luxembourg's Mandy Minella.
In the third round last year, Zheng gave Williams a scare in a thrilling encounter, with the American eventually winning 6-7 (7/5), 6-2, 9-7.
Zheng made the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2008 but since then has failed to get past the third round.
Results: Women's singles: First Round
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Mandy Minella (LUX) 6-1, 6-3
Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Zheng Jie (CHN) 6-3, 6-4
Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 6-0, 6-2
Olga Puchkova (RUS) bt Arantxa Rus (NED) 6-4, 6-2
Samantha Stosur (AUS x14) bt Anna Karol?na Schmiedlov? (SVK) 6-1, 6-3
Madison Keys (USA) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-3, 7-5
Mona Barthel (GER x30) bt Monica Niculescu (ROM) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
Li Na (CHN x6) bt Micha?lla Krajicek (NED) 6-1, 6-1
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/serena2jpg-491