WIMBLEDON, England (CNN) -- Venus Williams labored to an uncomfortable first round win over British wildcard Naomi Cavaday as she began the defense of her women's singles title with a 7-6 6-1 win at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Venus plays close attention to a backhand during her straight sets win on Tuesday.
Cavaday produced a standard of tennis far in excess of her lowly 197 world ranking, but tired after succumbing in the first set tiebreak by seven points to five.
Another Wimbledon champion, 2004 winner Maria Sharapova, advanced to the second round with a 6-1 6-4 win on Court 1 over 105th-ranked French qualifier Stephanie Foretz.
"It was great to get out there and get a feel for the court," the third-seeded Russian said. "It was my first match on grass this year and I did pretty well considering it was the first one."
Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 champion competing in her 13th Wimbledon at age 32, overcame a leg injury to beat Renata Voracova 6-3 5-7 6-3.
Davenport missed the tournament last year after giving birth to a son in June 2007.
Davenport, who squandered a match point in the 10th game of the second set, took an injury timeout before the third when a trainer strapped her right leg from mid-calf to thigh.
The American limped through the third set, going for big shots, and managed to win. After match point, she looked to the sky and limped off the court with no smile.
Seventh seed Williams began her match in imperious fashion by claiming the first three points, but seemingly distracted by a wasp, proceeded to surrend her own serve.
Cavaday, a 19-year-old from the English county of Kent, took heart and raced into a 3-1 lead before Williams broke back to level at 3-3.
The Centre Court crowd might have been expecting the young hope to fold at that point, but she saved two break points on her serve in the next game and with increasing confidence took her American superstar opponent to a tiebreak.
Unforced errors from the Williams racket kept Cavaday in the tiebreak, but after saving one set point the Briton hit a service return tamely into the net to bring a set which had lasted nearly an hour to a tame end.
Cavaday, who showed her potential by holding two match points against former world number one Martina Hingis at Wimbledon last year, was broken in the third game of the second set and was subsequently brushed aside as Williams found her range on grass.
Williams, who is bidding for a fifth Wimbledon crown, paid compliment to her own opponent while admitting she had been a little rusty.
"She played a great match," said Williams, who hit one serve at 125 mph. "She put a lot of pace on the ball, forced a few errors by me. I felt confident throughout the match. I felt good out there. I always feel good on that court."
Williams next plays another Britain Anne Keothavong for a place in the last 32.
Keothavong, the top-ranked home player, beat American Vania King in three sets on an outside court on Tuesday.
A day after Roger Federer wore a custom-made cardigan onto Centre Court and Serena Williams donned a thigh-length trench coat, Sharapova made a fashion statement of her own.
She came on court wearing shorts and a specially designed white tuxedo-style top, explaining: "I'm very inspired by menswear this year."
Sharapova added. "Every year at Wimbledon I want to do something classy. I've never worn shorts before at a Grand Slam and Wimbledon is the place to do it."
Defending champions Russia and Spain will contest the Fed Cup final on the outdoor clay courts of Madrid's Campo Villa club.
Final approval for the September 13-14 tie is subject to an inspection visit, the International Tennis Federation said on its Web site Tuesday.
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