Elena Rybakina earned her 300th WTA Tour-level win in a hard-fought three-set victory over Lois Boisson in the first round at Wimbledon.

The 2022 champion was given a scare by Boisson, but she held her nerve to earn a 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory in one hour and 49 minutes.

Rybakina made a strong start, getting a break in the first game – at the fourth attempt – which was enough to carry her through the first set, even after she failed to convert her first set point.

However, Boisson came out on the offensive in the second, racing into a 3-0 lead and then reeling off another three straight games to force the decider.

The pair were evenly matched in the with both defending two break points apiece to get to 3-3.

Rybakina got the vital break in the eighth game, though, before then serving out the match to reach the second round and book a meeting with Caty McNally.

Emma Navarro will also be joining her in the next round after coming from behind to beat Paulo Badosa 4-6 6-3 7-5 in just under two and a half hours.

There was a shock defeat for Elina Svitolina, though, as she was beaten in straight sets by compatriot Daria Snigur.

The Italian Open champion raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set, but was ultimately undone by two five-game winning streaks as Snigur prevailed 7-5 6-2.

Rybakina backs up status as favourite

According to Opta's win probability model, Rybakina is the favourite to win the title this year, with an 8% chance of triumphing, just edging out Aryna Sabalenka, who is the top seed.

She got through her first-round tie by doing things the hard way, but the Kazakh is now one of the two players to make the second round in all of the 15 women's singles grand slam events held in the last four seasons, along with Iga Swiatek, as she celebrated her milestone match victory.

Rybakina improved to 6-0 in first-round matches at Wimbledon, while it was just the second time she has dropped a set in her opener, also doing so against Shelby Rogers in 2023.

Unlike Rybakina, Svitolina does not have a lot of luck in the opening round at the All England Club. 

Wimbledon is the major where she has lost the most opening rounds so far in her career (four, overtaking the US Open – three).