Serena Williams cruises into round three of Wimbledon
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Your support makes all the difference.Serena Williams wasted little time or energy in progressing to round three of Wimbledon as she blasted her way past Hungary's Melinda Czink on Centre Court.
The 30-year-old did not look quite at her best when she saw off Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the first round, but she put in a brutal display today, particularly, in the first set, to clinch a 6-1 6-4 win.
The four-time Wimbledon champion fired down seven aces on the way to wrapping up the first set in just 19 minutes and despite an improved performance from Czink in the second set, nothing was going to stop Williams from advancing to a third-round tie against China's Jie Zheng.
Williams hurried through her knock-up, during which she was wearing her double-breasted short white coat, seemingly in a hurry to get on with proceedings.
That much was clear when she raced through her first game, which she held to love. Czink did not return over the net once and Williams powered down three aces to move ahead with less than one minute on the clock.
Czink had to rush to all four corners of the court to hold her serve, and she was put under immense pressure from Williams' powerful forehand in the fourth game.
The American, aided by a Czink double fault, engineered a break point and fired a bullet of a shot at the Hungarian's feet as she charged from the baseline and the ball ploughed into the net.
Two more aces, the biggest one 118mph, came from Williams in the next game and she broke again straight after when Czink buckled, placing a simple forehand long.
The crowd, clearly backing the underdog, offered Czink some encouragement as she trudged out with the unenviable task of breaking to stay in the set, but it mattered little as Williams wrapped up the game to love, the killer blow coming in the form of a seventh ace.
Williams looked to wrap up the second set quickly, earning a break point in the opening game but Czink sent down a mighty serve that the American could not return.
The hold strengthened Czink's resolve, and she showed yet more nerve to rescue a break point in her next service game.
Czink's mini-revival also owed to the complacency that had crept in to Williams' game. The American yelped on a number of occasions as she placed a number of routine shots wide and she also double-faulted.
Williams kept chipping away, however, and pressure told in the ninth game when Czink netted and Williams punched the air after sinking to her knees.
The American powerhouse wrapped up the clash in typically imposing style, holding to love before saluting all four corners of the crowd on Centre.
PA
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