The Latest: Back on grass, Nadal wins again at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The Latest at Wimbledon (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Playing his first match since winning his 12th French Open title, Rafael Nadal had little trouble in making the switch from clay to grass.

Nadal began his search for a third Wimbledon title by beating Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 on No. 1 Court to reach the second round.

Nadal was broken in the opening game but dominated after that, breaking his opponent six times and served out the match when Sugita sent a return long. He will next face Nick Kyrgios.

Last year, the Spaniard reached the semifinals at the All England Club for the first time since 2011 before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in five sets.

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6:20 p.m.

Serena Williams opened her bid for a 24th Grand Slam title with a straight-set victory on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The seven-time champion at the All England Club beat Giulia Gatto-Monticone of Italy 6-2, 7-5.

Williams, who lost in the Wimbledon final last year, is short on matches and training time this season, factors she cited after her third-round exit at the French Open, her most recent tournament.

Williams has been dealing with an injured left knee. She said on Saturday she has been “feeling better” and her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said the 37-year-old American “doesn’t have pain anymore.”

The 31-year-old Gatto-Monticone was making her debut in Wimbledon’s main draw.

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6 p.m.

Maria Sharapova retired from her first-round match at Wimbledon with a left wrist injury while trailing 5-0 in the third set.

The 2004 Wimbledon champion served for the match while leading 5-3 in the second set but lost to Pauline Parmentier of France 4-6, 7-6 (4), 5-0.

Sharapova, who was unseeded at the All England Club for the first time since her debut in 2003, called for a medical timeout after the second set and a trainer put some taping on her wrist. She called for the trainer a second time in the third set, and stopped just after Parmentier served for the 5-0 lead.

This year’s Wimbledon was only Sharapova’s second tournament since January following shoulder surgery. She lost in the second round in Mallorca last month.

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5:40 p.m.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her opening match at the All England Club, only days after deciding she was healthy enough to even take part in the tournament.

Kvitova, who won the grass-court Grand Slam in 2011 and 2014, beat Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 6-2 on No. 3 Court.

The sixth-seeded Czech reached the Australian Open final and won tournaments in Sydney and Stuttgart this year, but she missed the French Open with a left forearm injury.

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4:40 p.m.

After losing the first set against an opponent playing his first tour-level match on grass, Roger Federer got back to normal at Wimbledon.

Federer shrugged off an early deficit to beat Lloyd Harris of South Africa 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Centre Court as he began his search for a record-extending ninth Wimbledon title.

Harris was making his debut at the grass-court Grand Slam but rode his powerful serve to a one-set lead. But Federer dominated after that, breaking his opponent twice in each of the next three sets and serving out the match with an ace.

However, former women’s champion Garbine Muguruza is heading home early again.

Muguruza lost to Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round, making for a second straight early exit for the Spaniard since winning the title in 2017. She lost in the second round last year.

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3:20 p.m.

Sam Querrey of the United States took the last nine games and upset No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-0 to make the French Open runner-up the third top-10 man already gone in Wimbledon’s first round.

The 65th-ranked Querrey was one point from falling into a two-set deficit while serving down 5-4 in the second. But he held on there and then took a lead by getting his initial break of the match in the third set.

Thiem has lost to Rafael Nadal in the final at Roland Garros each of the past two years. He is a lot less comfortable on grass: This was the Austrian’s third first-round exit in six appearances at Wimbledon.

He joined No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev and No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas on the sideline after they each lost a day earlier.

Querrey’s only Grand Slam semifinal appearance came at the All England Club in 2017 after a victory over defending champion Andy Murray. Querrey defeated Novak Djokovic a year earlier at Wimbledon.

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2:35 p.m.

French Open champion Ash Barty won her first match as the top-ranked woman, beating Saisai Zheng 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Wimbledon.

Barty overtook Naomi Osaka last week for the top ranking and lived up to the status on No. 1 Court, breaking her Chinese opponent twice in each set.

“It’s a little bit of a bizarre feeling, to be honest,” Barty said about coming into Wimbledon at No. 1. “Took some time to adjust, but I loved every minute.”

Defending champion Angelique Kerber also advanced. She defeated Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-3.

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12:30 p.m.

Ninth-seeded Sloane Stephens avoided another first-round exit at Wimbledon.

The 2017 U.S. Open champion eliminated past quarterfinalist Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-4 for her first victory at the All England Club since 2016.

The American was one of four top-10 seeded women to lose in the first round last year, and also went out in her opening match in 2017. Bacsinszky reached the quarterfinals in 2015 but has now lost all three of her career meetings with Stephens.

No. 15 Wang Qiang and Barbora Strycova were also among the early winners on Day 2 of the Grand Slam tournament.

Wang beat Vera Lapko 6-2, 6-2, and Strycova defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-3, 6-2.

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8 a.m.

Serena Williams renews her bid for her 24th Grand Slam title and eighth at Wimbledon with a Centre Court match against Giulia Gatto-Monticone of Italy.

Williams lost in the final at the All England Club to Angelique Kerber last year.

Kerber opens Tuesday’s first-round action in the main stadium against Tatjana Maria.

Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer then follows against Lloyd Harris.

The first match on No. 1 Court will be Ash Barty’s first match since she became ranked No. 1. The French Open champion faces Zheng Saisai.

Rafael Nadal takes on Yuichi Sugita later in the day in that arena.

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