World number one Caroline Wozniacki got her bid for a first Grand Slam title off to a fine start with a 6-2 6-1 win over Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja in swirling winds at Wimbledon.

"I thought it was very difficult. First, it was my first match on grass, a real match. But then, you know, the wind was blowing everywhere," the Dane said.

"There was one point where I hit the ball and it almost didn't come over and then I hit the next one and it just flew. I tried to adapt as good as I could and hopefully I'll be ready for the next match as well."

The 20-year-old, often criticised for holding the number one spot despite never winning a grand slam, was never troubled by her 105th-ranked opponent.

Wozniacki needed less than an hour to set up a second-round clash with France's Virginie Razzano, who beat India's Sania Mirza 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3.

She also began the French Open last month in decent form but crashed out to Daniela Hantuchova in the third round to sharpen the critics' pencils but Wozniacki does not care about the jibes regarding her top ranking.

"I just go out there and play," she said.

Former champion Maria Sharapova made a fluent start to her Wimbledon campaign with a 6-2 6-1 win over Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.

The Russian fifth seed and former world number one continued the form which brought her this year's Italian Open title to book her place in the second round.

Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004 and has three Grand Slam titles to her name, never allowed her compatriot

Chakvetadze to settle and produced some trademark booming groundstrokes to ease into the next round.

Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova and fellow 2010 semi-finalist Czech Petra Kvitova eased through their opening matches.

Kvitova, who had never won a match on grass until last year's Wimbledon, needed less than an hour to dispatch America's Alexa Glatch 6-2 6-2 and Pironkova soon followed with a 6-2 6-1 win over Italian Camila Giorgi.

At 4-2 down in the second set Glatch, wearing strapping on her left leg and ankle, battled hard to stay in the match, saving two break points, before eighth seed Kvitova fired a powerful cross-court backhand past her to take the game.

As fans outside the court strained to catch a glimpse of the action, the 21-year-old left-hander polished off her win with an effortless ace to set up a second round with Britain's Anne Keothavong, after she beat compatriot Noami Broady 6-2 6-4

It was a similar story on court 19 as 23-year-old Pironkova, who last week lost to Serena Williams in the American's first match back after nearly a year off, broke world number 122 Giorgi in the second game to take an early lead.

A double fault by the error-prone Italian handed Pironkova the first set and the she stormed to a 5-0 lead in the second with her powerful serve too much for Giorgi to handle.

She will face Petra Martic in the second round, after the Croat beat Vania King 5-7 6-2 6-2.

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka secured a place in the second round without completing her rain-delayed match against Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, who retired injured after falling on the first point when their clash - stopped on Monday with the Belarusian 6-4 3-2 ahead - got underway again.

Among other contenders for the women's title, 11th seed Andrea Petkovic improved on last year's first-round exit with a 6-3 6-4 win over France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon and Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez knocked out 15th seed Jelena Jankovic.

Despite losing the first set, Martinez Sanchez, absent from last year's tournament due to a knee injury, appeared in charge from the start, running her 26-year-old opponent all over the court with well placed shots to take the match 5-7 6-4 6-3.

Over on Court 19, as the sun did its best to break through the clouds over the All England Club, Petkovic was handed an early break by world number 139 Gacon, who netted the ball twice to give the German a 4-2 lead in the first set.

Although the 30-year-old fought on, several times coming close to breaking back, she failed to follow through, slapping her thigh in anger as Petkovic cemented her lead to secure a second round match against Canada's Stephanie Dubois.

Australia's number 10 seed Samantha Stosur became the highest seeded casualty in either draw after losing 6-3 6-4 to Hungarian Melinda Czink.

Reuters