By Caroline Cheese
BBC Sport at Wimbledon |
The American broke serve in the first game of the match and never looked in trouble against Zheng, who was making her Wimbledon debut on Centre Court.
Williams' display was error-strewn in her first match on grass for a year, but broke twice in the second set to seal a routine win in 64 minutes.
She goes on to face Stephanie Foretz of France in the second round.
The 23-year-old afterwards brushed off the 24 unforced errors she committed against Zheng.
"I thought I played really well and it didn't take me too long to adapt to the grass," she said. "I have been working on a few different things in practice which I tried out, and it went well.
"Coming back to Wimbledon as champion is a great feeling - you don't get that feeling at any other Grand Slam."
MMIX
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