The third major of the season began on Monday with a full slate of matches on a warm summer day in London. The weather provided a brilliant setting as many of the top women began their play.

Williams sisters advance

The most recent memory of Serena Williams was her final at Roland Garros. There, she defeated Lucie Safarova to win her 20th major championship. On Monday, the top seed defeated Margarita Gasparyan 6-4 6-1 as she continues her historical quest to edge closer to Steffi Graf in career major titles.

Much like some of her performances at Roland Garros, Williams began nervously in her first-round match but finished strong in the victory. Early in the match and frustrated by her play, Williams was given a warning for cursing. Fourteen first-set unforced errors may have contributed to her outward angst, but the American found a groove in the second set and began to shake off the rust.

In the second set, she overpowered the Russian and cleaned up the errors en route to the victory. The 33-year-old was happy to return to a tournament that she has won five times. “It feels good so far. Just one match, but it feels good just to be back here at Wimbledon. I've done so well here in the past, so I'll always have so many good memories.”

Meanwhile, her sister barely worked up a sweat in a 6-0 6-0 victory against fellow American, Madison Brengle. In a match that lasted just 41 minutes, Venus Williams moved through with ease against a player who broke through to the fourth round in Melbourne earlier this year. Constantly on the defensive, Brengle felt the onslaught of Williams’ big groundstrokes. The veteran fired 29 winners, while Brengle only struck two.

Safarova survives and advances against Riske

French Open finalist Lucie Safarova advanced past Alison Riske 3-6 7-5 6-3 in a heartbreaking loss for the American. Riske led the Czech 5-3 in the second set before Safarova mounted her comeback. The match was on the racket of the 24-year-old as she attempted to serve for a spot in the second round but could not close out the match. Safarova did not lose another game in the set and rode that momentum into the third set, where she finally gained control.

Riske, who typically plays strong on grass, brought her A-game, while her opponent struggled in service games throughout much of the match. She not only found difficulties in serving but aided Riske with 40 unforced errors in the match.

The match featured some marathon games, but after two hours and 26 minutes, Safarova finally closed out the feisty American to advance to the second round.

Suarez Navarro eliminated

Ninth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro became the first top-10 seed victimized as she fell to Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-0 in just 52 minutes. The Spaniard is not necessarily noted for her play on the grass surface and had no answers for the defending Wimbledon junior champion.

After losing her serve early, the Latvian found her stride quickly, striking winners consistently throughout the match. She finished with 30, while Suarez Navarro only connected on one during the match.

Suarez Navarro has been one of the more consistent performers this year, and her results have catapulted her into the top 10. But on Monday, it was Ostapenko who looked years beyond her age, showing the poise of a veteran.

Sharapova cruises

Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova was all business in her 6-2 6-2 win against British upstart Johanna Konta. The wild card had high hopes after a run to the quarterfinals at Eastbourne, where she defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Garbine Muguruza in back-to-back matches.

But the 2004 Wimbledon champion seized the match early with her signature power strokes that forced Konta to run and take a defensive position. Sharapova did not serve her best, but the rest of her game was enough to eliminate the world No. 126.

Sharapova had not faced any competitive action in nearly a month and was happy with the result. “Coming in without any proper grass court matches,” she said, “I just wanted to take care of business, and I thought I did a good job of that today.”