Sir Andy Murray won his opening match of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships today ©Getty Images

World number one Sir Andy Murray cast injury doubts aside as he made an emphatic start to the defence of his men’s singles crown at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.

The Briton brushed aside lucky-loser Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan on Centre Court.

Sir Andy hit 29 winners during a match temporarily paused due to a rain delay in the third set to win 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 44 minutes.

The 30-year-old is now due to face Germany's Dustin Brown in round two, the man who upset Spain's Rafael Nadal in 2015.

Nadal, winner of last month's French Open title in Paris, cruised into the second round with an imposing 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Australian John Millman.

The shock of today arrived in the final match on Centre Court this evening.

The fifth seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, runner-up at this year's French Open, was knocked out by Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

The 32-year-old, winner of every Grand Slam apart from Wimbledon, fell to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 loss.

Another opening round casualty was Nick Kyrgios of Australia after he retired from his match against France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert because of a hip injury.

Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic defeated Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and Japan's Kei Nishikori overcame Marco Cecchinato of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.

Petra Kvitova defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4 ©Getty Images
Petra Kvitova defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4 ©Getty Images

In the women's competition, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams of the United States claimed a 7-6, 6-4 straight-sets win over Elise Mertens of Belgium.

The 37-year-old broke down in tears in a post-match press conference when asked about a car crash she was recently involved in.

Williams, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after Jerome Barson was killed during the incident on June 9 in Palm Beach Garden City.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also through to the second round after beating Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4.

The 27-year-old Czech is playing in only her third tournament since she was attacked in her own home in December.

British number one Johanna Konta delighted her home crowd as she beat Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-Wei.

The sixth seed claimed a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory against the same player who knocked her out of the French Open.

Second seed Simona Halep of Romania, the runner-up in last month's French Open final, claimed a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over New Zealand qualifier Marina Erakovic.

Ukraine's fourth seed Elina Svitolina endured a frustrating afternoon but eventually came through 7-5, 7-6 against Australia's Ashleigh Barty.

Action is due to continue with more first round matches tomorrow.