• Wimbledon: What They Said

Robson admits she is a bag of nerves

Laura Robson looked almost surprised with her victory over Maria Kirilenko © PA Photos

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British No. 1 Laura Robson may have looked like calmness personified as she dispatched 10th seed Maria Kirilenko in straight sets on Court One, but even as her last shot caught the line the butterflies were taking their toll.

"I'm still so nervous. Even on that last point I didn't know if my forehand was in. Playing in front of your home crowd at Wimbledon is always hard. I could have gone 5-1 up in the second and lost my focus a little bit and started thinking about winning.

"I thought I served pretty well today. It was nerve-wracking before I served for it. I just wanted to focus and take it point-by-point. Any big win gives you a lot of confidence."

Despite seeing off Florian Mayer in straight sets, first seed Novak Djokovic still believes there are certain things he can improve on - but the Serb insisted he was satisfied with his first round performance.

"It's the first match on the grass court for me this season, and first here at Wimbledon, the biggest tournament in sport," Djokovic told the BBC. "It was a big pleasure again playing here on Centre Court in front of a packed crowd.

"For the first round, it was tricky because Florian Mayer is a very good opponent with good quality and a good variety of shots and I think his game is really well-suited for grass, so it took a lot of effort.

"For the first round, for the first match on grass I'm satisfied, there's still a few things I would like to do better on the court - I could serve better - but generally my game is there, of course.

"It's normal that in the first round I'm still trying to find my rhythm."

Serena Williams reckoned that she was a little slow out of the blocks in her 6-1 6-3 win over Mandy Minella - not that anyone could tell.

"It was really special coming out as defending champ. Winning here last year was a great moment for me, but also winning the Olympics here means it's really special.

"I never think about what happened in the past, I just think about what's to come when I step out on court.

There's still work to be done before Heather Watson recovers the sort of form that lifted her inside the world's top 50 in 2012 as her return from glandular fever continues at a cautious pace.

The British No. 2 was dispatched 6-3 7-5 by American 18-year-old Madison Keys, and knows she is still far from her best.

"I feel like my game isn't back yet. My reactions are slow. I'm not moving like I usually move, getting balls back. I don't feel like my game's there yet, so that will come back with time, time to practice. I have a big gap now to get the training in, get some fitness training in."

When 42-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm reached the Wimbledon semi-finals back in 1996, Carina Witthoeft - her first-round opponent - was still in nappies. The Japanese veteran clocked up an emphatic victory for experience over youth, destroying the German 18-year-old 6-0 6-2.

"Tennis is not only power, not only speed, not only for young players. Tennis, we need more mental [strength] also. We need experience - that's why it's not anymore only younger players who can go to the top level, I think."

There was an unexpected retirement on Court 18 as Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew in the fifth set of his first round match with Ivan Dodig, citing tiredness and admitting that he had been suffering with the flu.

"I was the last three days almost entire time in the bed," the German said in his post-match conference. "I had a flu. I feel pretty bad. I felt like my body is really responding bad at the end and I was no energy left in my body.

"Maybe [retiring] was bad timing, but it's pretty hard to speak about because, you know, it's my best grand slam I played last year. I'm for sure the one who is really, whatever you want to call it, angry or sad about the situation. It's very bad timing for sure. But it's nothing you can do about it."

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