Sakkari and Kasatkina into round two at Wimbledon

Maria Sakkari (right) is making her eighth singles appearance at Wimbledon and has never previously been beyond the third round

Ninth seed Maria Sakkari and Eastbourne champion Daria Kasatkina were among the early winners in the first round of the women's singles on day one at Wimbledon.

Sakkari defeated world number 119 McCartney Kessler of the United States 6-3 6-1 on court 12.

It was a welcome victory for the world number nine from Greece, who had been knocked out in the first round on five of her six previous Grand Slam singles appearances.

The 28-year-old said: "I've been struggling a little bit in Grand Slams in the last couple of tournaments, you know, with first-round losses. So that was in my mind.

"But I feel like today I was brave and strong enough to just overcome that fear."

Russian 14th seed Kasatkina dropped only three games in a 6-3 6-0 win over Zhang Shuai of China and could face Lily Miyazaki in the second round, if the British player beats world number 73 Tamara Korpatsch of Germany later on Monday.

US Open champion Coco Gauff is scheduled to play third on Centre Court against fellow American Caroline Dolehide, but third seed Aryna Sabalenka - who was also due to play on Monday - has pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.