Alcaraz, Osaka reach second round at Wimbledon

Third seed Carlos Alcaraz began his Wimbledon title defence with a 7-6(3) 7-5 6-2 win over Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal.

The 21-year-old Spaniard is bidding to add a fourth Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet after his maiden French Open triumph last month.

Elsewhere, fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, who was beaten in the semi-finals last year by Alcaraz, produced an assured 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over American Aleksandar Kovacevic to reach the second round.

Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud eased past Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4, while Canadian former semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov beat Chilean 19th seed Nicolas Jarry 6-1 7-5 6-4.

Former semi-finalist and Bulgarian 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov defeated Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 7-5 to reach the second round, while American 29th seed Frances Tiafoe beat Italy's Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-3.

In the women's competition, former world number one Naomi Osaka navigated a tricky first round match against France's Diane Parry, eventually winning 6-1 1-6 6-4.

French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini beat Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5 6-3 to book a second round clash with Germany's Greet Minnen.

Qualifier Lulu Sun, playing in Wimbledon's main draw for the first time, stunned Chinese eighth seed and Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen 4-6 6-2 6-4, while last year's quarter-finalist Madison Keys beat Martina Trevisan 6-4 7-6(4).

Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina breezed past Zhang Shuai 6-3 6-0, former quarter-finalist and 25th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Taylor Townsend 7-6(4) 6-1 and Greek ninth seed Maria Sakkari brushed aside American qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3 6-1 to reach the second round.