The Latest: Venus Williams advances at her 19th Wimbledon
LONDON (AP) The Latest on Wimbledon (all times local):
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3:15 p.m.
Five-time champion Venus Williams won her opening match at Wimbledon for the 17th time when she beat Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Vekic, who was 1 year old when Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, had two set points in the first set serving at 6-5 but blew them both on errors. Williams ran through the tiebreaker.
In the second set, Vekic had a break chance for 5-3, but another unforced error squandered it.
Williams broke for 5-4 and served out in her 19th Wimbledon, a record among active players.
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12:50 p.m.
Former Wimbledon women's runner-up Sabine Lisicki advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Shelby Rogers on the opening day at the All England Club.
Lisicki, the German who lost to Marion Bartoli in the 2013 final, took exactly one hour to beat the 62nd-ranked American.
Lisicki has fallen to No. 81 in the rankings but has a game suited to grass. Rogers has failed to get past the first round at Wimbledon in four appearances.
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12:30 p.m.
Vicky Duval was back at Wimbledon on Monday, competing in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time in two years after recovering from Hodgkin lymphoma.
The 20-year-old, who is based in Bradenton, Florida, lost in the first round to 29th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-0, 7-5. Simply being on court was a symbolic step forward.
At the 2013 U.S. Open, when she was just 17, Duval showed her promise by stunning 2011 champion Sam Stosur in the first round. But a year later, while trying to qualify for Wimbledon, Duval was told she had cancer. She played on, making it to the main draw and then surprisingly beating a seeded player, Sorana Cirstea.
After a yearlong recovery, Duval returned to playing low-level tournaments.
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11:45 a.m.
Play is underway at the 130th edition of the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Under cloudy skies, play began on schedule on the outside courts at the All England Club.
Among those in action in early matches are former Grand Slam champions Marin Cilic and Samantha Stosur.
Play on Centre Court and Court 1 was due to start at 1 p.m.
Two-time defending champion men's champion Novak Djokvic was due to open play on Centre against Britain's James Ward, with five-time women's winner Venus Williams up first on Court 1 against Donna Vekic.
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11:00 a.m.
Novak Djokovic is ready to open his bid for a third straight Wimbledon title and fifth straight Grand Slam championship.
As tradition dictates, Djokovic has the honor of opening play on Centre Court on Monday as the men's defending champion. He'll face Britain's James Ward, who is ranked 177th in the world and received a wild-card entry.
Djokovic, who holds all four major titles and is halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam, is bidding for a 13th major championship. Andy Murray, who lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open and French Open finals, is seeded to meet him again in the final here.
Monday's Centre Court schedule also features French Open women's champion Garbine Muguruza against Italy's Camila Giorgi, and seven-time men's winner Roger Federer against Guido Pella of Argentina.
