Venus Williams crashes out of Wimbledon

The American star, who is continuing to battle Sjogren's syndrome which forced her out of the game for almost six months after last year's US Open, was beaten 6-1 6-3 by Elena Vesnina on Court Two at the All England Club.

It was only the second time Williams had lost in the first round in SW19 - the first being on her debut back in 1997.

And with her current battle against the illness, questions about whether she will play at the championships again will be asked.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska had no such problems, dispatching Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3.

There were also straight-sets wins for US Open champion Sam Stosur and former French Open queen Li Na. Both lost just four games - to Carla Suarez Navarro and Ksenia Pervak respectively.

Last year's semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki also progressed, but one seed to fall was number 16 Flavia Pennetta. She was beaten 6-4 6-3 by her Italian compatriot Camila Giorgi, who came through qualifying at Roehampton last week.