Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and former champion Maria Sharapova will feature in the second round of Wimbledon at the All England Club on Thursday.
Sharapova after making a flying start at The Championships would be aiming to avoid last year's slump, when she crashed out of the tournament in the second round. It is expected to be an easy outing for the reigning French Open champion against the qualifier Timea Bacsinszky.
The five-time major winner said it was difficult to get used to grass after playing on clay, but added that she became more comfortable as her opening match progressed.
"There's always a bit more tension coming into the first round of a Grand Slam," Sharapova said. "It was such a quick turnaround. Just a couple weeks ago you're on the clay, coming onto the grass now. It's a new surface and it's a different feeling."
"It was obviously a bit slower start than I wanted, but I think as the match progressed, I got more comfortable, found my toss a little bit better. I think my serve percentage went up, which was quite important considering she did want to play an aggressive game off of the second serves."
Meanwhile, Bouchard will face Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain in the second round after defeating Daniela Hantuchova in the opening encounter. Hantuchova, who reached the quarterfinals here in 2002, pushed the 20-year-old hard, but the Canadian tightened up her game to clinch the match in straight sets.
The 13th-seed committed just 15 unforced errors in the match and racked up 26 winners against her more experienced opponent. Eugenie insisted that she was not at her best in the match, but still managed to pull off the victory in the opener.
"I expected a tough match, and it was a tough one," Bouchard said. "I definitely feel like I didn't play my best most of the match, but I competed well when it counted, and I raised my level at some big points, like at 5-all in both sets. I think I played better in those moments, and I'm proud of that."
"The first match of a tournament, especially a Grand Slam, is always a bit nervy," she added.
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia will face Chinese Zheng Jie in her second match after beating Francesca Schiavone in the opener. These two are tied at two-games apiece in head-to-head encounters and in their most recent clash in the US Open Ivanovic got the better of Zheng in straight sets.
Sabina Lisicki of Poland, third seed and French Open finalist Simona Halep and the ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber will also be in action.
Schedule of Play
Eugenie Bouchard vs Silvia Soler-Espinosa 7:00 pm IST, 9:30 am ET and 1:30 pm GMT start
Ana Ivanovic vs Zheng Jie 7:00 pm IST, 9:30 am ET and 1:30 pm GMT start
Maria Sharapova vs Timea Bacsinszky 10:30 pm IST, 1:00 pm ET and 5:00 pm GMT
Where to Watch Live
The day's action is scheduled for 4:00 pm IST, 10:30 am GMT and 6:30 am ET start with live coverage on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD1 in India and live streaming option HERE and HERE. International views can catch the action HERE and HERE or listen to the action free HERE.
BBC will broadcast matches live in the UK. Viewers can also live stream the action HERE or HERE. Catch the action live on ESPN in the United States or see live streaming HERE. SuperSport will telecast the action in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa and viewers can catch the matches live HERE.
