LONDON (REUTERS/AFP) - Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved confidently into the second round of Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday.
With no competitive matches in the build-up to the championships after his French Open final loss, Djokovic, on paper at least, had a dangerous opponent in the 33rd-ranked Kohlschreiber.
But the 28-year-old Serbian was clinical on the big points and never looked like becoming the first defending champion to fall in the first round since 2003.
He broke in the 10th game of the opener and squeezed the throttle at the same stage of the second, securing a two-set lead with backhand winner and a roar of delight.
Top seed Djokovic cruised through the third set.
"This is the cradle of our sport, it doesn't get any bigger than Wimbledon Centre Court and it's an honour and to be defending champion," he told the BBC. "I had a tough opponent, he can be very tricky especially on the grass but I stayed composed."
Djokovic, also the 2011 champion, hit 12 aces and 36 winners past world number 33 Kohlschreiber.
In other early action Monday, Spanish ninth seed Carla Suarez Navarro went down 6-2, 6-0 to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in just 52 minutes while Italian 24th seed Flavia Pennetta lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas.
Two-time semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka, seeded 23, saw off Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 and seventh seed Ana Ivanovic breezed past China's Fan Xu-yi 6-1, 6-1.
In the men's first round, Australia's 26th seed Nick Kyrgios, who knocked out Rafael Nadal last year, eased past Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
US Open champion Marin Cilic, the ninth seeded Croatian and a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, got past Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
On the first day of the 2015 championships, security was stepped up in the aftermath of the weekend massacre of 38 tourists in Tunisia, most of whom were British. Spectators were subjected to the usual bag checks at the entrances to the All England Club in southwest London, where police officers were visible around the perimeter and inside the grounds.
Britain's national terror threat level is currently at "severe", meaning an attack is considered highly likely.
Police said that extra officers would be on duty patrolling the area, while road closures and a "highly mobile reserve that can respond to emerging incidents" were also in place.
As well as security, fans and players were also bracing themselves for a rare British heatwave.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, temperature are expected to be in the low to mid-30s.
One British newspaper even breathlessly predicted that Wednesday would sweat in 36 degrees, the highest ever recorded at the tournament.
