Serena Williams scorched by Harmony Tan as Williams makes Wimbledon exit

Seven-time champion Serena Williams suffered a shock first-round defeat against French woman Harmony Tan in a late-night epic at Wimbledon.

The American, playing her first singles match since retiring hurt in the first round last year, went down 7-5 1-6 7-6(7) after more than three hours on Centre Court.

Tan, ranked 115th in the world, showed remarkable composure and claimed the biggest victory of her career on her second match point as a weary Williams netted a forehand.

World number one Iga Swiatek went into the record books in style as she won her 36th match in a row with victory over Jana Fett on Centre Court.

Swiatek's amazing streak, which goes back to February and has seen her win six tournaments, means it is the longest winning streak of the 21st century, overtaking Venus Willams’ record set in 2000.

The two-time French Open champion, a hot favourite for the SW19 crown, enjoyed the prestigious opening slot on Centre Court usually reserved for the defending champion and beat Croatian Fett 6-0 6-3.

Defending champion Ashleigh Barty’s retirement meant that Swiatek was given the honour of opening play on the main show court and she looked entirely at home, handing her opponent a 33-minute bagel.

This was the Pole’s first match since winning at Roland Garros and Fett, who has had an active warm-up on the grass, threatened a comeback as she led 3-1 in the second set.

She had three break points to make it 4-1, but Swiatek escaped and that was the end of it, as the Pole quickly rattled off five games in a row to continue her invincible streak.

Number five seed Maria Sakkari made light work of Australian Zoe Hives, wining 6-1 6-4, but 14th seed Belinda Bencic is out, losing 6-4 5-7 6-2 to Wang Qiang in a match carried over from