Serena playing like champion in wimbledon 2011

Four-time champion Serena Williams breezed into Wimbledon's last 16 with a 6-3 6-2 win over Maria Kirilenko.After being taken to three sets on Court Two in the previous round, Williams looked more at home with a powerful performance on Court One.Tennis Ball Saver
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A break in Kirilenko's opening game was enough to take the first set, before the 27th seed surrendered again in the third and fifth games of the second.The American will play ninth seed and Eastbourne champion Marion Bartoli in the fourth round.

"I feel like I keep improving," Williams told BBC Sport."It is just getting the rhythm that I have been missing a little bit and its getting better."I just want to keep serving better, as I did today, and just hold on out there, keep moving and enjoy myself."

The defending champion had been unhappy to play her second-round match against Simona Halep away from Wimbledon's two main arenas and she responded to her return with a muscular performance.

Williams snapped away at Kirilenko's serve, placing the Russian under pressure as soon as she missed with her first attempt.After moving ahead early on, Williams survived a reviewed decision as Kirilenko fired millimetres wide on a chance to break back in the fifth.

Williams' serve rarely looked in danger again however, while Kirlenko's creaked under a barrage of thumping groundstrokes.The 24-year-old Kirilenko won over the majority of the crowd with her dogged retrival of two match points at 5-1 down, but it was to be all she had to show at the end of the contest.Wilson Federer Adult Tennis Racquet without Cover
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Experience lift venus in Wimbledon

After 15 years of coming to the All England Club, Venus Williams knows what it takes to pull out a tough match on the biggest stage in tennis.

Even though she only returned to tournament play last week after a five-month layoff with a hip injury, the 31-year-old Williams summoned all her experience and big-point savvy to rally for a three-set Centre Court victory that kept her in contention for a sixth Wimbledon title.
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"In terms of feeling age, I definitely feel the experience of it all, and I think that's huge for me," Williams said after overcoming 40-year-old Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6 in nearly three hours on Wednesday to move into the third round.

"The experience is very important on the court, because that's what really gets you to the win besides the skill and everything else. If anything, that's definitely an advantage."In a match played with rain pelting the roof over Centre Court, Williams was down 5-1 in the first set before fighting her way back against a gritty opponent who pushed her around the court.The first set lasted 65 minutes, the third went 69 minutes. Overall, the match took 2 hours, 56 minutes. By comparison, Williams won her first match against Akgul Amanmuradova on Monday in 59 minutes.


Williams came up with big serves when she needed it against Date-Krumm, the second oldest woman to reach the second round here in the Open era after Martina Navratilova.

"More than anything I've learned I'm very competitive," Williams said. "Just no matter what the score, very positive. Just keep fighting."

It was the first time the two players — who have a combined age of 71 — have met in their long careers.

The 57th-ranked Date-Krumm was a throwback Wednesday, hitting flat groundstrokes and sneaking into the net whenever she could for soft drop volleys."She just played unbelievable today," Williams said. "I just thought today was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win. Thankfully, I had some answers."Date-Krumm made her Wimbledon debut in 1989, reached the semifinals in 1996 and retired later that year until her return in 2008.

"I played my tennis and (showed) I can fight with Venus also," she said. "She's a five-time champion here. She's a great player. So I can fight with her. It was a very, very good match for me."

Williams is in the opposite half of the draw from her sister Serena, a four-time champion who sobbed with relief after winning her first-round match on Tuesday in her return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with health problems.

"I think she showed that once you're a champion, you're always a champion," Venus said of her younger sibling. "Regardless of what happened to her off the court, she still believes in herself. ... I don't think anybody else will ever understand what she's been through."The tournament is about a dozen matches behind schedule due to rain delays, with more showers forecast Thursday.

Play on Centre Court is guaranteed because of the roof, meaning fifth-seeded Robin Soderling will lead off Thursday against 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt. They will be followed by French Open champion Li Na of China against Sabine Lisicki and six-time winner Roger Federer against Adrian Mannarino of France.

The Court 1 schedule features matches involving Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova.Serena Williams is scheduled to play on Court 2 against Simona Halep of Romania. Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki is also due on Court 2, against Virginie Razzano.

Other winners Wednesday included defending men's champion Rafael Nadal, fourth-seeded Andy Murray and three-time runner-up Andy Roddick. They all won convincingly in straight sets.

The roof remained over Centre Court for Nadal's 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Ryan Sweeting of the United States."The Wimbledon Centre Court with the roof or without the roof, is probably the best court of the world," Nadal said.Nadal's next opponent will be Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who advanced after Canadian Milos Raonic retired with a hip injury while leading 3-2 in the first set Wednesday.

Muller is the only man other than Federer to beat Nadal at the All England Club since 2005. Six years ago, Muller defeated the Spaniard 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. Nadal is 28-2 at Wimbledon since then, with both losses coming in the final against Federer.

"Was a long time (ago), but he beat me," Nadal said of Muller. "Gilles is a very dangerous player. He has a very good serve, good volley. He's especially very dangerous player in this kind of surface. So will be tough match for me."

After Mystery Illness Serena Williams Recovering

Tennis star Serena Williams is over in the UK to play in Eastbourne's Aegon International and revealed the mystery illness she suffered earlier this year almost killed her."I'm so excited to be back," she told the BBC. "I was on my death bed at one point -- quite literally."The four-time Wimbledon champ claims no one is sure how the illness began, but said it may have started from a cut on her foot.

"To this day I don't really know the full details of what happened," she said. "I was with my nephew and my hitting partner and we were just leaving a restaurant. I was walking and just felt something. I kept walking and it was definitely glass there. There was a massive puddle of blood. I ended up fainting and needed stitches in both feet."

It was then that the injury took a life-threatening turn.

"At first people said it would be fine, it would be all right but it turned out to be a lot more serious," she said. "If it had been left two days later it could have been career-ending -- or even worse. They told me I had several blood clots in both lungs. A lot of people die from that."

She continued, "It got to the stage where it felt like I could hardly breathe. Some days I didn't get out of bed at all. I just laid on a couch thinking 'why has this happened to me?'"Williams underwent surgery in February due to the mystery illness.

"Serena Williams underwent emergency treatment ... for a hematoma she suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation," her rep, Nicole Chabot, said in a statement at the time, adding the athlete suffered a pulmonary embolism.But these days Williams is back on the court and ready to continue her tennis career.

"This has given me a whole new perspective on life and my career -- and not taking anything for granted," she said. "I'm just taking one day at a time. I'm not preparing for today or for Wimbledon. I'm preparing for the rest of my career."