It was the first time Williams lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam since the 2006 Australian Open- the first at Wimbledon since her debut appearance in 1997.
"I feel like I'm a great player," Williams said. "I am a great player. Unfortunately I have to deal with circumstances that people don't have to deal with normally in a sport, but I can't be discouraged by that. I'm up for challenges. I have great tennis in me. I just need the opportunity."
There were no opening-day troubles for top-ranked Novak Djokovic, six-time champion Roger Federer and No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who all enjoyed easy straight-set wins on a cloudy but dry start to the 2-week grass court championships.
Defending champion Djokovic beat Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in the day's first match on Centre Court, while Sharapova came on next and overpowered Anastasia Rodionova, 6-2, 6-3.
Federer, seeking his record-tying seventh Wimbledon crown, dropped only three games in trouncing Spain's Albert Ramos, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, on Court 1 - the first time since 2003 that he wasn't assigned to Centre Court for the opening round.
The highest-seeded player to fall was No. 6 Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up from the Czech Republic who lost in three straight tiebreakers to 87th-ranked Ernests Gulbis, of Latvia. Gulbis, considered a potential top-10 player who never lived up to his potential, had 30 aces in winning, 7-6 (5) 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4).
