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Former world number one Ana Ivanovic had to save two match points against unheralded Lucie Hradecka to reach the Wimbledon second round.

Fans clambered into precarious positions to catch a glimpse as the drama unfolded on the intimate court four, where the 2008 French Open champion struggled to contain the ambitious Czech's lethal double-handed backhand in a 5-7 6-2 8-6 victory.

The 26-year-old Hradecka, whose left thigh was strapped, had a determined air about her as she made the 13th seed's shots look as flimsy as the wispy layers of the Serb's skirt.

The Czech pumped her fists in celebration as Ivanovic's backhand went long to hand her the first set on her first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old Serb, a semi-finalist here in 2007, swapped her racket at 2-2 in the second which seemed to do the trick as she immediately broke and did not drop another game in the set.

Ivanovic, who looked to be tossing the ball slightly out of line before serving, broke in the ninth game of the decider.

She was then serving for the match but Hradecka fired another unreachable backhand to save match point.

After breaking, the Czech then held and earned two match points of her own but Ivanovic smashed her way out of trouble.

Two games later, the Serb looked up to the sky in thanks after a lucky net cord set her up with two more match points and she snatched victory when Hradecka's service return went wide.

Ivanovic, who has slipped from top of the rankings to 12th over the past year after some indifferent performances, will face Italian Sara Errani for a place in the third round.

Defending champion Venus Williams launched her bid for a sixth Wimbledon title with a competitive 6-3 6-2 victory over Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele.

Venus, bidding for her third straight championship here, mixed fine athleticism and choice shot selection on Centre Court to book a place in the second round against Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko in an hour and 15 minutes.

Venus cracked 14 winners as she raced through the opening set in just 32 minutes before the Swiss world number 97 found her form and made more of a game in it in the second.

The American finally broke the resistance of Voegele, who cites her foe's sister Serena as her childhood hero, with a break in the seventh game of the second and she served out for a satisfying victory sealed with a forehand winner.

Williams will face Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round after the Ukrainian beat Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova 6-3 7-6(5).

World number one Dinara Safina struggled to find her grass-court legs before edging past Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5 6-3 in the first round.

The world number one is hoping to break her Grand Slam duck after failing to get past round three in six previous visits to the All England Club, and after a testing start showed signs she can go deep into the tournament.

Dominguez Lino, ranked 72, proved difficult to break down and a late break proved crucial as Safina took the opening set after 55 tight minutes on Court One.

Safina toiled again in the second, wasting her first chance to seal the match serving at 5-2 before breaking again to progress to a second-round berth against Paraguay's Rossanna De Los Rios, who beat former quarter-finalist Nicole Vaidisova 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4.

Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo, seeded 17th, booked their places in the second round late in the day with wins over Akiko Morigami and Melinda Czink respectively.

Serbia's Jelena Jankovic overcame a medical timeout to get through her first-round match against Germany's Julia Goerges 6-4 7-6(0) at Wimbledon.

Jankovic, the sixth seed who has never passed the fourth round here, stormed through the opening set in 45 minutes in her first meeting with the 20-year-old German.

The Serb had a medical timeout at the end of the first set for treatment to the soles of her feet and it seemed to hit her rhythm as her German opponent raced to a 5-2 lead.

But Jankovic pulled level and raced away to win the tiebreak 7-0 and set up a second-round clash with Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic, who beat British wildcard Katie O'Brien 6-2 5-7 6-4.

Another Brit, world number 51 Anne Keothavong, also crashed out of the tournament, suffering a 7-5 6-2 defeat at the hands of Patricia Mayr, while wildcard Georgie Stoop battled hard before narrowly falling 6-7(0) 6-4 4-6 to seventh seed Vera Zvonareva in a clash held over from last night.

British wilcard Elena Baltacha battled through to the second round with an impressive 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko and will next face Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, who put out 30th seed Agnes Szavay 7-5 6-4.

Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, a 38-year-old veteran who last played Wimbledon in 1996, took the first set from Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki but slipped to a 5-7 6-3 6-1 defeat.

The Japanese player, making a comeback this year, reached the semi-finals in 1996 and when she made her debut in 1989, Wozniacki was still a year away from being born.

Date Krumm, 20 years older than the blonde Dane, needed extensive medical treatment on her injured thigh as the marathon first round tie took its toll.

Wozniacki, who won the Wimbledon warm-up at Eastbourne last week, will play Maria Kirilenko, with the Russian easing past Czech Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4.

Australian Jelena Dokic, who made her career breakthrough at Wimbledon in 1999 when she defeated top seed Martina Hingis, before her professional and private life went into a spiral, also needed medical attention.

The 26-year-old took the first set off German qualifier Tatjana Malek before losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Dokic complained of feeling dizzy at the end of the second set and had her blood pressure taken at courtside.

Malek goes on to tackle Australian 18th seed, and French Open semi-finalist, Samantha Stosur, who produced an impressive display to down tricky American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 6-7(6) 6-2.

China's 19th seed Li Na also booked her place in the second round with a 7-6(5) 6-0 win over Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva and will next play Olga Govortsova, who was a 4-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Tatiana Perebiynis.

But seeds Alize Cornet, Anna Chakvetadze and Sybille Bammer were sent packing, being beaten by Vera Dushevina, Sabine Lisicki and Melanie Oudin respectively.

AFP / Reuters