Serena, Venus Williams advance to third round of Wimbledon
Serena Williams continued the quest for her twenty-first Grand Slam – and third of the year – with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 win over over Timea Babos in the second round on Wednesday. The complete match lasted 59 minutes, allowing Williams to get off the court and out of the record heatwave currently hitting London.
The world No. 1 recorded 12 aces, winning 82 percent of her first serve points and hitting 23 winners. She looks as though she’s fully recovered from the virus that she battled during her French Open title run, though reports to the contrary have been swirling around all week. Whatever the case, she looked solid on Wednesday.
“I'm definitely playing well which I never say. I had two tough matches. She's got such a huge serve, I had no option not to play well,” Williams said after the match. “They were definitely not easy wins. I hope I'm not playing my best, I hope there's room to improve.”
It took older sister Venus a bit longer to complete her late afternoon match, but in the end she joins Serena in the third round by defeating Yulia Putintseva, 7-6, 6-4. Making her 18th appearance here, the five-time Wimbledon champion was all smiles as she waved to the fans after the nearly two-hour match.
Seeded 16th, Venus won 71 percent of her first serve points and hit an impressive 29 winners, enough for the 35-year-old veteran to send the 20-year-old Russian home.
“It’s good to have good competition. Clearly, [Yulia] is on the rise on this tour.” On the rise indeed — but hasn’t yet elevated to Venus’ hard-won status. But hey, let’s not forget that Miss Williams has a whopping 15 years on the rookie athlete. Yulia’s still got some time!
The dual wins set up a potential fourth-round showdown for the sisters. Serena will face Britain’s Heather Watson in the third round, while Venus takes on Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic. It is the first time either has faced her opponent. Watson is the last British woman remaining in the draw.
“Heather Watson plays so well on the grass and I never like playing the Brits at home,” Serena said. “I've nothing to lose. I just hope to have fun.”
"Serena's a great player, an amazing athlete, a great champion," Watson said. "She's probably the toughest opponent you can get at the moment."
Not probably. Definitely. Serena is definitely the hardest opponent to face right now, if not ever.
The Williams sisters pulled out of Wimbledon doubles so that they can each concentrate on singles. Serena is seeking to become the first player to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf did so in 1988.
Fellow American Sloane Stephens, once billed as the heir to the Williams’ sisters throne atop women’s tennis, advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow American Lauren Davis. So far five American women have advanced to the third round, with two more set to play second-round matches on Thursday.
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her onTwitter and Facebook.
