Both players struggled to hold serve in the second. Sharapova broke Kutuzova for a 5-3 lead to serve for the match, but was then broken back at love. Sharapova broke again, however, converting her first match point as Kutuzova netted a backhand.

It’s been five years since Sharapova won the Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old.

Despite slipping to 59th in the world rankings after almost a year out of action, the former world number one is finding form. She reached the quarters of this year's French Open, although she is not getting carried away.

Elsewhere, Russia’s Anastasia Pavluchenkova is through after beating Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic.

Nadya Petrova was even more impressive in her 6-1, 6-1 win over Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus.

Alysa Kleybanova's was another opening day winner for Russia, and again, she needed only two sets to get past Sesil Karatantcheva.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams is also through to Round two of the competition, as the American was too strong for Neuza Silva of Portugal. Serena smashed her opponent in the opening set, dropping only one game. In the second, she met though more resistance, but claimed it 7-5.

In the men’s singles, world number two Roger Federer has successfully begun his march for his sixth Wimbledon and 15th overall Grand Slam title. The Swiss hammered Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in straight sets.