Wimbledon 2018: Serena & Venus Williams into third round

Wimbledon 2018: Serena & Venus Williams into third round

Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams raced into the third round in devastating style, while sister Venus joined her after a trickier encounter.

Serena, 36, was too powerful for Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova in a 6-1 6-4 win as she continues to impress after time off to give birth.

Five-time champion Venus, 38, fought back to beat Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru 4-6 6-0 6-1.

Serena, seeded 25th, faces Tatjana Maria or Kristina Mladenovic next.

"I'm going in the right direction," Serena said. "In the other [first-round match] I didn't move a lot. I've been moving a lot better.

"But I'm trying not to put too many expectations on myself."

Venus, who has reached the third round for the 18th time, plays Kiki Bertens in the third round.

"It is just about winning the match. If you are at your best or not doesn't matter as long as you win," ninth seed Venus told BBC Sport.

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While Venus needed nearly two hours to win, Serena was back in the locker room after just over an hour.

It has been hard to gauge where Serena's game is following her maternity break as she has yet to face a true test from one of the top-ranked players.

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After this showing, it is still not clear because she tore apart world number 135 Tomova, who looked out of her depth for much of the match on Centre Court.

Serena faced just one break point, which she saved, and her forehands were so powerful that the 21-year-old often did not move off the spot.

Serena got her second break of the first set with a smash, and then served it out to take it in 24 minutes when Tomova netted a forehand.

Tomova received the kind of enthusiastic applause reserved for underdogs whenever she hit a winner, and even Serena applauded her tight-angled forehand in the penultimate game.

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Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters on BBC TV

Serena must be very happy with result and the performance. She's improved tremendously.

I thought she had to improve a lot to be a contender after the first match, and after what we saw today, she is definitely a contender