Jessica Pegula progressed in straight sets against Darja Vidmanova as Wimbledon got under way on Monday.

Fourth seed Pegula was the first leading player to appear on a show court on the opening day of the tournament, with the Court No.2 action starting before the matches on Centre Court and Court One.

And despite being tested at times, the American ultimately needed just 73 minutes to record a 7-5 6-3 win over Czech opponent Vidmanova.

The match would have been even swifter if Vidmanova, making her first appearance in a grand slam main draw, had not launched an impressive first-set comeback attempt.

Pegula had charged into a 4-0 lead in the first career meeting between the players, but Vidmanova forced herself back into contention.

The set was very much up for grabs at 5-5, but Pegula then won two straight games, with the opener sealed at the first opportunity when a Vidmanova forehand found the net.

There was slightly less jeopardy in the second set, as Pegula again made the stronger start and went on to break three times, with Vidmanova firing wide with a forehand on the first match point.

Pegula was a constant threat in return games and converted six of her eight break-point opportunities in the match. Across the contest, she won 67 total points to Vidmanova’s 49.

Pegula banishes memories of first-round losses

While Pegula came into this match as the clear favourite, she will have taken nothing for granted after two painful first-round experiences at majors in the last 12 months.

At the most recent grand slam, Pegula suffered a shock opening-round loss to Kimberly Birrell in the French Open.

And Pegula had also been beaten in the first round of last year's Wimbledon, falling to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

Having now got over the all-important first hurdle, Pegula will be aiming to translate her strong form on grass in recent years into a long run at this tournament.

Pegula is the only player on the WTA Tour who secured grass-court titles in each of the previous two seasons, claiming the trophies in Berlin 2024 and in Bad Homburg 2025.

And she only narrowly missed out on another Berlin crown earlier this month, being beaten in a close final by Linda Noskova.

Despite that track record, she has never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and this was just her ninth career win at the tournament, her lowest total across the four grand slams.

Next up for Pegula is a match against Sara Sorribes Tormo, who also won her first-round match in straight sets, defeating Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.

Number 11 seed Belinda Bencic, who thrashed British wild card hopeful Mika Stojsavljevic 6-2 6-1, has also reached round two.