LONDON

As has become customary for Serena Williams of late, she got off to a rocky start.

In her first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday, Williams dropped three of the first four games. She slipped and nearly did the splits, tumbling to the turf. She was warned for using foul language.

And, as has also become customary for Williams, she wound up with a victory.

The No. 1-seeded Williams extended her pursuit of a fourth consecutive major title and her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam, too, by taking 11 of the last 13 games to beat 113thranked qualifier Margarita Gasparyan 6-4, 6-1. Williams has won her past 22 Grand Slam matches.

It was, otherwise, a mostly routine Day 1 for the biggest names on the schedule. Defending champion Novak Djokovic — and the player he lost to in the French Open final this month, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka — won in straight sets. So did 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and two other major title winners and former No. 1- ranked women, Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic.

Williams improved to 33-1 in 2015, competing for the first time since winning her 20th Grand Slam singles trophy at the French Open. En route to that title, Williams lost the opening set in four matches.

If, a fortnight from now, the 33-year-old Williams were to win Wimbledon for a sixth time, she would be the oldest women’s major champion in the Open era of professional tennis, which began in 1968. She also would complete a selfstyled “Serena Slam” of four major titles in a row, something she pulled off in 2002-03.