Serena Williams’ Wimbledon starts slow; Venus wins 6-0, 6-0

Serena Williams of the United States celebrates a point during the women's singles first round match against Margarita Gasparyan of Russia at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, on Monday June 29, 2015. Serena Williams of the United States celebrates a point during the women's singles first round match against Margarita Gasparyan of Russia at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, on Monday June 29, 2015.

By Associated Press June 30, 2015 4 min read

LONDON — As has become customary for Serena Williams of late, she got off to a rocky start.

In her first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday, Williams dropped three of the first four games. She slipped and nearly did the splits, tumbling to the turf. She was warned for using foul language.

And, as has also become customary for Williams, she wound up with a victory.

The No. 1-seeded Williams extended her pursuit of a fourth consecutive major title and her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam, too, by taking 11 of the last 13 games to beat 113th-ranked qualifier Margarita Gasparyan 6-4, 6-1. Williams has won her past 22 Grand Slam matches.

“There are a lot of expectations on her shoulders at the moment,” said Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “It took her maybe six games to get going. At 3-all, she started to relax and play. And then there was no match.”