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."

Federer starts his run to defend his crown in wimbledon grass court

Roger Federer, in a very Swiss way, does not beat around the bush. "Much change from last year?" he was asked by the journalist who pounced on the opportunity to ask the first question, in that quasi-ironic tone that we journalists always think of being so clever. The offending questioner was of course referring to what would have been one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history - Roger Federer, the six-time champion, opening Centre Court as defending champion, taken to five sets by Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla in 2010.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20K 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)But Federer, as his wont, cut straight to the chase. "The result was the same: I was able to win."Thus are great champions made. Not necessarily by winning in two sets, or three sets, or four, or five. Just by winning.

"The first rounds here at Wimbledon on Centre Court are never easy," said Federer, who despite that statement has not suffered the ignominy of a first-round defeat since 2002, and never looked in any danger of doing so during his three-set win over Mikhail Kukushkin. All that matters is that you get through them, was the unspoken sentiment.

There has been a lot of talk about Federer flying under the radar here at Wimbledon. Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have taken some of the story, occupy most of the headlines, Andy Murray the rest. But Federer does not believe that. He will always feel pressure at Wimbledon.

"I want to do so well here at Wimbledon because it's some of the big highlights for me during the season, and I've won the tournament six times. That's why I'll always play with some pressure here at Wimbledon just because of the occasion and what it means to me really. I was nervous today."Federer? Nervous? Yes. For this is his backyard, and having it taken away from him probably hurts more than anything else. Because he knows how to play on it, and when he plays his best, better than anyone else.

"At the French Open I feel it's a bit more on other opponents' rackets. But here I feel it's a bit more on mine," he said. "I think it almost comes out the most on grass today. For instance, when I played, I feel so natural on it. You can cut the points short if you want to. You can play aggressive, you can hit two‑shot tennis, which then creates some very different type of points."

"At the end, it's grass. You take little steps. The ball bounces lower than at other slams. Harder or softer for me, doesn't make a big difference."

Emotional Serena Williams in Wimbledon 2011

Serena Williams was in tears and she was not quite sure why. She had just beaten Aravane Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to begin the defence of her title and she could not stop sobbing. But after what she described as a "disaster year", she was finally back at her favourite tournament, on her favourite court - and she was winning again.

"I usually don't cry so I don't understand it," she gasped between the sobs. "It's been so hard, I never imagined I could be here."

As Wimbledon began, there were those who suggested that Serena had to be the favourite to defend her title. Where was the logic in that? Serena had not played for almost 12 months, she had suffered a freak foot injury - she trod on some broken glass in a Munich restaurant; she had had two bouts of surgery on that injury; she survived a pulmonary embolism (probably brought on by having her foot in a cast for weeks) and then had emergency surgery to clear a haematoma on her stomach. How could she be a favourite for the title?

But both Williams sisters have spent a career defying logic and put Serena within a few rounds of a major championship and she is a terrifying foe. Even so, when she opened the defence of her title she was playing only her third match in a year so surely she was bound to be a bit rusty. Rezai clearly thought so and went on the attack from the very start. As it turned out, that was not a good move.

If Serena had hoped for a gentle beginning, a little time to reacquaint herself with the Centre Court surroundings and a few minutes to get a feel for the ball, she was sorely disappointed. But forced to hit the ground running, she dug deep into her racket bag and found a selection of walloping serves, thumping forehands and a fragrant nosegay of volleys. There were glaring errors but not even a 13-time Grand Slam champion can be perfect all of the time, especially when she has barely played in a year.

The first game lasted fully 10 minutes as the two women tried to beat each other at the other's game. Rezai had the temerity to jump on any second serves and had the imagination and skill to pull the champion all over the court. That was enough to earn her the early break but holding on to it proved difficult. As Serena ran away with five consecutive games, the first set was more or less wrapped up. Committing just four unforced errors, she was in charge and seemingly steaming towards the second round.

But Serena is not the only one who has had a miserable year. After losing in the opening round of the Australian Open, Rezai admitted that she and her father had had a huge falling out - her mind had not been on tennis. By the second week of the French Open, she had lodged an official complaint with the police about her father and clearly her personal life was taking precedence over her tennis.

At the same time, the French Tennis Federation offered her some support and the coaching help of Alexia Dechaume. But having extended that coaching partnership until after Wimbledon (it was originally due end after Roland Garros), she fired Dechaume two days before her first match in SW19. Compared with all of that, playing Serena on Centre Court must have seemed like a breeze.

Rezai kept her head and continued doing what came naturally. She kept Serena on the run and, at times, ran the champion to a standstill. Even her fragile serve - she threw in eight double faults - was not going to stop her wrenching the second set from Serena's grasp as the former world No.1 began to fray at the edges. And as Serena's error count rose, so she started to look awfully tired.

Yet it is when she has her back to the wall that Serena is at her most dangerous. She gritted her teeth and glared at Rezai - the Frenchwoman was not going to spoil Serena's return to SW19, not while Serena still had breath in her body. She had been through too much in the past 12 months and she had waited too long for this moment. And so it was that Serena crushed Rezai's serve for a 3-1 lead in the deciding set and then sprinted into the next round.