LONDON (AFP) - US Open champion Emma Raducanu beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4 on Monday (June 27) to the delight of a partisan crowd on Wimbledon's Centre Court.

The 19-year-old British player, who was an injury doubt for the Grand Slam, struggled to impose herself early in the first-round match but broke serve in the seventh game.

Van Uytvanck broke back but Raducanu again seized the initiative by breaking again and survived a tough test on her serve to take the first set 6-4.

The pair swapped breaks in the second set and Raducanu broke again in the ninth game, comfortably holding serve and sealing victory with a backhand volley to the delight of the crowd.

Raducanu has struggled with a string of minor injuries since her sensational win at Flushing Meadows last year, including a recent side strain earlier this month.

The teenager did not drop a set in New York, becoming the first British female player to win a Grand Slam singles crown since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977. But she has not won more than two matches at a tournament since.