USA's Venus Williams in action against Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele.[CFP]

Venus Williams opened the defence of her Wimbledon singles crown in impressive fashion with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Swiss teenager Stefanie Voegele.

The third seed, bidding for her third successive title at All England club, had more difficulty keeping her footing in the early minutes, twice ending up on the turf. But she quickly recovered with a string of 14 points to take a 5-1 lead.

Venus, 29, described her victory as "pretty straightforward".

"I don't put so much stock into first round matches or any round matches, actually," she said.

"I mean, you really have to start putting stock in it when you lose, figure out why. But it's just important to get to the next round and regroup and get better from there. So I just bank on that I know how to play tennis and go from there."

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2009)