Jankovic, Sharapova take Wimbledon openers

WIMBLEDON, England, June 24 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No. 3 Maria Sharapova were easy winners Tuesday in first-round action at The Championships at Wimbledon.

Jankovic ran by Olga Savchuk 6-3, 6-2 and Sharapova took over Stephanie Foretz 6-1, 6-4 in her first grass-court match of the year. Also, fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva was ahead of Marie Camerin 6-3, 3-3 when play was stopped Tuesday because of darkness.

Defending champion Venus Williams, seeded seventh, was given a tough first set by Naomi Cavaday before taking control in the 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory. Williams dropped service just once in improving to 52-7 lifetime at Wimbledon.

Among other highly-seeded players Tuesday, ninth-seeded Dinara Safina beat Yung-Jan Chan 7-6 (10-8), 6-2, No. 10 Daniela Hantuchova topped Sara Errani 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; and 13th-seeded Vera Zvonareva got by Aiko Nakamura 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1.

No. 23-seeded Katarina Srebotnik was ousted by Julia Goerges in a marathon match that included a 2-hour, 16-minute third set. Goerges took the match 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 16-14.

No other seeded women lost Tuesday with No. 16-seeded Victoria Azarenka's 6-1, 6-1 rout of Tsvetana Pironkova the most impressive.

Also advancing Tuesday were: No. 20 Francesca Schiavone, No. 22 Flavia Pennetta, No. 25 Lindsey Davenport, No. 26 Sybille Bammer, No. 31 Carolina Wozniacki and No. 32 Sania Mirza.