Defending women's singles champion, Venus Williams of the US, waves to the crowd following her first round match against Britain's Naomi Cavady on the Centre Court at Wimbledon yesterday. Williams won 7-6, 6-1. - AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

DEFENDING CHAMPION Venus Williams scraped through a tight first set and then pulled away for a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over British teenager Naomi Cavaday to begin her bid for a fifth Wimbledon title.

As reigning champion, Williams was up first on 'Ladies Day' on Centre Court as the All England Club enjoyed a second spell of dry, sunny weather on a day that also featured wins by Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova and an upset loss by Nikolay Davydenko.

Slow start

It took a while for the seventh-seeded Williams, playing her first grasscourt match of the season, to find her game and take command against a 19-year-old wild card entry playing only her third career Grand Slam match.

"She played a great match," said Williams, who hit one serve at 125 mph (201 kph). "She put a lot of pace on the ball, forced a few errors by me. I felt confident throughout the match. I felt good out there. I always feel good on that court."

Nadal, coming off his fourth straight French Open champion-ship and first grass-court title, got off to a solid start on Centre Court.

Runner-up to Roger Federer the last two years, the second-seeded Spaniard beat 122nd-ranked German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (0).

Nadal, who never faced a break point, managed to break Beck just twice out of nine chances. He saved his best for the tiebreaker, ripping a crosscourt forehand winner for 5-0, serving his 17th ace for 6-0 and forcing an error on match point with a backhand drop shot.

"The first match is always very difficult, but I played well in the last tiebreak," Nadal said. "I was a little bit nervous today. It was tough, but I have very nice memories from the last two years."

Knocked out

In the day's first major upset, fourth-seeded Davydenko was knocked out in the first round in straight sets by 116th-ranked German Benjamin Becker, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. It was the fifth time in seven years the Russian failed to get past the first round; he reached the fourth round last year.