Slow-starting Kvitova moves into second round

LONDON (Reuters) - Petra Kvitova overcame a nervy start to the defence of her Wimbledon title to book her place in the second round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova.

The Czech fourth seed returned to Centre Court where she beat Maria Sharapova to lift the Rosewater Dish 12 months ago, but looked far from a defending champion when she was broken in the second game by the world number 96.

She looked sluggish around the court and her greater power was frequently misdirected, but she saved two break points to avoid going a double break down and then won five games in a row to claim the opening set.

The second was more straightforward as the Czech broke in the opening game and then closed out the match following a short rain delay to set up a second round clash against Britain's Elena Baltacha or Italy's Karin Knapp.

(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Pritha Sarkar)