Yesterday she was rusty, sometimes agitated, frequently bored, yet eventually victorious in her first-round match, beating the world's 59th-ranked player, Shinobu Asagoe of Japan, 6-2, 6-3.
Williams, the queen of the All England Club, was appropriately bejeweled with pink sparkly gems in her hair, on her white dress, even on her shoes. And after she beat the game Asagoe, she waved to the Centre Court fans who represented her court.
"I feel really motivated," Williams said after beginning just her eighth tournament of the year. "Any time you come to Wimbledon, in my opinion, you just have to feel motivated, especially when you walk out on Centre. There's really no better feeling. The court is so perfect. It's the best grass court I've ever played on in my life, including all the other courts at this facility. I love being there."
So did Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter, who followed Williams on Centre Court yesterday. In the 200th major match of his career, the second-seeded Agassi defeated Peter Wessels, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. Rafter, a finalist at Wimbledon last year and this year's No. 3 seed, beat Jan Vacek, 6-2, 7-6, 6-3.
The only man seeded among the top 16 players to lose yesterday was No. 16 Vladimir Voltchkov, a semifinalist last year as a qualifier who lost yesterday in four sets to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
As for the women, all of the top-seeded players advanced, including Lindsay Davenport, who lost to Williams in last year's final. Davenport, seeded third after a three-month layoff because of a right knee injury, dispatched Martina Sucha, 6-3, 6-3.
