Laura Robson
Laura Robson moves into the second round of Wimbledon after her impressive win over Maria Kirilenko. (Reuters)

Laura Robson became the second Brit to seal a place in the second round of Wimbledon with a shock 6-3 6-4 victory over 10<sup>th seed Maria Kirilenko.

A powerful performance from the 19-year-old saw her dismiss the challenge of the women ranked 28 places above her, surviving a bout of nerves in the latter stages of the second set to provide further evidence she is ready to compete on the big stage.

The experienced Kirilenko was dominated in the early stages of the first set on Court One with Robson providing every indication she was up for the challenge at hand, battling the 26-year-old Russian from the baseline.

Robson gained the advantage in the eighth game, earning two break points with a powerful forehand before securing the opening set in style, smashing an emphatic ace before Kirilenko failed to land her forehand return.

The Brit showed no signs of relenting as the second set began, storming to a 3-1 lead. Seemingly on track to extend her lead to three games, she was broken by Kirilenko, allowing the Russian to find her feet in the contest as nerves began to show in Robson's game.

But serving again at 4-3, Robson regained her composure despite an early double fault and secured her win another powerful forehand to confirm her presence in the second round, where she will meet Mariana Duque Marino.

"I am still so nervous, on the last point I didn't know whether my forehand was good or not," Robson told BBC Sport.

"I think that was a big one for me because of all the nerves and playing in front of your home crowd at Wimbledon.

"I could have gone 5-1 up in the second and lost my focus a little bit. I started to think about winning and I got back to focusing point by point. I thought I served pretty well today."

Robson's remarkable victory lifted some of the gloom surrounding British tennis after Heather Watson lost in straight sets to American teenager Madison Keys, following six other Brits out of the competition after the opening two days at SW19.

World number one Novak Djokovic began his quest to reclaim the Wimbledon crown with a convincing 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over Florian Mayer. A courageous performance from the German was not enough to stop the tournament's top seed who seized the initiative with a break in the 11<sup>th game of the second set.

After Rafael Nadal's shock exit on Monday, his compatriot David Ferrer kept Spanish hopes alive with a 6-1 4-6 7-5 6-2 triumph over Martin Alund, while Serena Williams began the defence of her championship with a straight sets victory over Mandy Minella.