Osaka faces tough Wimbledon start against plucky Putintseva

REUTERS: Second seed Naomi Osaka kicks off her quest for a third Grand Slam title against unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva at Wimbledon on Monday in the Japanese's first tournament since losing her world number one ranking.

In Putintseva, however, Osaka faces a tricky opponent who has beaten the Japanese in both of their two previous meetings, including at the Birmingham grasscourt warm-up event last month. In one of the more intriguing matches of the opening day, American Venus Williams, 39, a five-times champion at the All England Club, takes on compatriot Cori 'Coco' Gauff, who at the age of 15 is the youngest player to qualify for the main draw.Williams had already won four of her seven Grand Slam titles before Gauff was born and the match has caught the eye of none other than Swiss maestro Roger Federer.

"I think it's a great storyline. I think that would be a great, wonderful experience for Coco and Venus.Elsewhere in women's draw, third seed Karolina Pliskova, who is fresh off her title win at Eastbourne on Saturday, faces China's Zhu Lin.

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