Wimbledon 2018: Johanna Konta beats Natalia Vikhlyantseva, Kyle Edmund beats Alex Bolt

British number ones Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund both reached the Wimbledon second round without a dropping a set in their opening matches on Tuesday.

Konta, a semi-finalist last year, beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva 7-5 7-6 (9-7) but made harder work of it than necessary.

The 22nd seed needed her sixth match point to beat the Russian 21-year-old.

Edmund's progress was more straightforward, the 21st seed winning 6-2 6-3 7-5 against Australian debutant Alex Bolt in under two hours.

It is only his second win in the main draw at Wimbledon.

Konta, 26, faces Slovak former world number four Dominika Cibulkova next, while Edmund, 23, goes on to play American Bradley Klahn.

Three Britons are now through to the second round of the singles, after teenager Katie Swan won on Monday, while Heather Watson, Katy Dunne and Katie Boulter play their first-round matches later on Tuesday.

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Konta overcomes nerves

There were a few British hearts in mouths on court two when Konta slipped during the first set

Konta, whose dream run at the All England Club last year lifted her to a career-high fourth in the world, has struggled for form this year and has slipped to 24th in the rankings.

There have been some signs of recovery with the 27-year-old reaching the final of the grass-court event in Nottingham last month before she was knocked out of the Birmingham and Eastbourne events by top-10 players Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki respectively.

Her frustration has been evident, telling reporters after her first-round defeat at the French Open in May they did not "make it easy" for her at Roland Garros and remonstrating with the umpire in the Nottingham final over a line call.

But against world number 103 Vikhlyantseva, she remained calm, merely fist-pumping her winners.

Her belief seemed to grow in the sixth game of the first set when she showed incredible athleticism to reach a mis-hit from the Russian at the net and unleash a tight-angled winner.

She shook off an awkward slip that left her on her way to doing the splits to break in the next game and went on to take the set on her second set point when Vikhlyantseva netted a service return.

After breaking in the first game of the second set Konta looked to be heading for a straightforward win but she let the Russian back into the match with a break back for 4-4.

She then had to save two set points on her serve but kept her composure to take it to a tie-break, where she got an early advantage courtesy of one of Vikhlyantseva's nine double faults.

But she then had another wobble, squandering five match points - double-faulting on the fifth - before finally volleying a winner past the Russian to go into the next round.

"It's the first round of a Slam - there were definitely some nerves there," Konta said.

"First rounds are always tricky. The conditions were tricky, breezy and gusty, it didn't make it easy.

"I am playing these Championships independent of what happened last year. I am a little wiser this year, working hard to be here for a full two weeks."

Edmund impresses Court One crowd

Edmund had only ever beaten fellow Briton Alex Ward in the main draw at Wimbledon, but came into this year's Championships as the nation's leading hope in the men's singles.

The 23-year-old Yorkshireman's rise into the world's top 20, coupled with Andy Murray's injury problems, mean it is the first time someone other than Murray has been British number one at Wimbledon since 2006.

Edmund, who has reached the Australian Open semi-finals and US Open last 16, insisted before the tournament he was starting to feel more comfortable on grass - and showed it in a dominant opening two sets against world number 204 Bolt.

"It is great I can go out as British number one, it was a great experience," said Edmund.

"There's a lot of build-up, excitement and anticipation. So to play well makes me happy."

Edmund broke serve in the opening game of the match, then again for a 5-2 lead before serving out to love to win the first set in just 26 minutes.

Bolt, who took time out of tennis in 2016 and became a fencer, looked tight and nervous on his first appearance at SW19, while Edmund did not drop a point on first serve in the opening two sets.

The qualifier had not troubled Edmund's serve before taking it in the fifth game of the third set, holding twice more to leave him within another hold of taking the match to a fourth set.

However, Edmund's ferocious forehand - his trademark shot - saved a set point and helped him go on to win the next three games to seal victory.