WIMBLEDON, England -- Venus Williams began defense of her Wimbledon title Tuesday with her first victory in more than a month, overcoming a mid-match lapse to beat Japan's Shinobu Asagoe 6-2, 6-3.

	Lindsay Davenport said she was nervous before playing her first-round match.

Williams avoided the fate of top-seeded Martina Hingis, who was eliminated in her opening match Monday.

She also had little trouble with the unusual heat on Centre Court, reaching a steamy 91 degrees, and the pressure of defending the most prestigious title in tennis.

"I don't feel any pressure to defend," she said. "I'd just like to win again."

Williams wasted no time celebrating, breaking into a big smile even before Asagoe's final service return landed long. Her last victory came in the round of 32 at the German Open in May.

She joins her sister Serena and French Open champion Jennifer Capriati in the second round of a tournament missing three significant injured players -- Monica Seles, Mary Pierce and Anna Kournikova.

Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 champion and last year's runner-up, also advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Martina Sucha of Slovakia.

Capriati "has the best results, so you'd have to say that she's doing the best," the second-seeded Williams said, "whereas the rest of us have been trying but it hasn't exactly happened."

It hasn't happened for Williams, who is playing in only her eighth tournament this year despite being healthy. She won two of them but lost her last match before Tuesday, in the first round of the French Open May 28.

"I don't think I'll ever get over it," she said. "I don't think I worked hard enough. I deserve to be in this position but it's OK. I'm not doing that bad."

Neither is Davenport, who missed three months of competition, including the French Open with a bruised right knee. She returned as a champion, winning the Eastbourne tuneup for Wimbledon last Saturday, then won an unexciting match Tuesday and said her knee was fine.

"I was so nervous before I played because I just want to do so well here," she said. "It's always been tough for me the first round or two in Grand Slams. Things normally turn around."

If Williams was affected by not having played in nearly a month, it didn't show as she won the first three games Tuesday.

But Asagoe, ranked 62nd in the world, won the next two before Williams went ahead 5-2. Asagoe served the next game, fighting off six break points before Williams wrapped up the set with a backhand winner.

Asagoe, who lost her ninth straight opening-round match, went up 3-1 in the second set. But Williams saved three break points and held serve for 3-2, then won the last four games while dropping only four points -- none in the final game.

Serena watched from the stands, at one point holding a cell phone to her ear. Their father, Richard Williams, took pictures.

One of last year's semifinalists also advanced. Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia beat Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay 7-5, 6-1. Last year, Dokic lost to Davenport.

French Open runner-up Kim Clisters of Belgium, seeded seventh, beat Giulia Casoni of Italy 6-0, 6-2.

Any chance of a championship match between Venus Williams and Hingis ended with Hingis' shocking straight-set loss Monday to the 83rd-ranked player.

That 6-4, 6-2 loss to Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain removed a huge obstacle to Capriati's bid for the Grand Slam. Capriati already has won the Australian Open and French Open.