Serena Williams powered to her 16th successive win at Wimbledon as the seven-time champion routed Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-4 while Caroline Wozniacki suffered fresh Wimbledon woe with a shock 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 loss to Ekaterina Makarova in the second round on Wednesday.
Wozniacki saved five match points but has now failed to get past the last 16 in 12 visits to the All England Club.
It was a bitter defeat for the 27-year-old Dane, who was expected to challenge for the Wimbledon title after winning her maiden Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open in January.
Wozniacki, plagued by an invasion of flying ants during the Court One clash, saved five match points but has now failed to get past the last 16 in 12 visits to the All England Club.
Wozniacki’s frustration was only increased by the unwanted infestation that landed at Wimbledon during her match.
With flying ants stuck in Wozniacki’s hair and dive-bombing her throughout the match, the former world number one asked the umpire if there was something that could be sprayed to keep the bugs away.
“They’re in my mouth and in my hair and everywhere – we need to do something. Is there a spray?” she said.
“I want to be here to focus on tennis, not eating bugs.”
Wozniacki arrived in south-west London in good form on grass following her victory at the Wimbledon warm-up event in Eastbourne last week.
But once again she exits Wimbledon in embarrassing style, leaving the grass-court Grand Slam as the only one of the four majors at which she has never reached the quarter-finals.
Russian world number 35 Makarova faces Czech world number 66 Lucie Safarova in the third round.
“I couldn’t win with a lot of match points, but I kept fighting and playing an aggressive game and finally it worked,” Makarova said.
“I was really nervous, because you need to win this point.
“When it was 5-5 I started thinking about those match points on my serve at 40-0.
“But I told myself ‘no, you are not going to lose this match’. I forgot it and started over.”
Makarova, who had lost seven of her previous eight meetings with Wozniacki, is hoping to emulate her run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals four years ago.
The 30-year-old has twice made the semi-finals at a major – both at the US Open.
Meanwhile, Williams was in dominant mood on Centre Court, brushing aside Tomova in just 66 minutes with 24 winners and four aces to extend her streak of consecutive match wins at the All England Club.
“It was better than the first round. I’m happy I’m going in the right direction,” Serena said.
“I’m getting there. I expect to get there, not only for Wimbledon but for the tournaments in the future.”
The 36-year-old, whose winning run encompasses her Wimbledon titles in 2015 and 2016, missed the grass-court Grand Slam last year while she prepared to give birth to daughter Alexis Olympia in September.
But the 23-time major winner – playing just her second major as a mother – has quickly shaken off the rust in her 18th appearance at Wimbledon.
Serena, seeded 25th after her return from maternity leave, faces France’s Kristina Mladenovic or Germany’s Tatjana Maria for a place in the last 16.
If she wins Wimbledon, Williams would equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Her last major title came at the 2017 Australian Open when she played while in the early stages of her pregnancy.
Five-time champion Venus Williams battled into the Wimbledon third round with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru, while former world number one Karolina Pliskova finally made it to the third round on her seventh visit to Wimbledon. She saw off two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court.
Venus reached her ninth Wimbledon final last year, but the American star was denied a sixth title by Garbine Muguruza. She returned to the All England Club stuck in a rut after losing in the first round of both the Australian and French Opens this year.
Making her 21st Wimbledon appearance, 38-year-old Venus is the oldest woman in this year’s tournament and the world number nine looked her age during a sloppy opening set of her first round against Johanna Larsson.
But she hit back to clinch her 88th Wimbledon singles win and it was the same script as she made it 89 by recovering from a poor first set to demolish Dulgheru.
Asked if her wealth of Wimbledon experience was a key factor, Venus said: “I’d love to have that extra advantage. If that’s working for me I’m all for it.
“It’s just about winning the match. If that’s your best or not doesn’t matter.”
Venus faces Dutch 20th seed Kiki Bertens or Russian world number 107 Anna Blinkova in the third round.
American Madison Keys, seeded 10th, celebrated US Independence Day with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum.
Croatian world number 55 Donna Vekic followed up her shock success against fourth seed Sloane Stephens with a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.
Romanian 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu thrashed British teenager Katie Swan, 6-0, 6-3 to extend her remarkable renaissance.
The 30-year-old took several years off due to shoulder and knee injuries, a break that allowed her to earn a Phd in sports science.
A year ago, Buzarnescu was ranked 213 and lost in Wimbledon qualifying – yet now she will face Czech seventh seed Pliskova for a place in the last 16.
Meanwhile, former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska lost 7-5, 6-4 to Czech world number 66 Lucie Safarova.
More to follow
Results
Women
2nd rd
Karolína Pliskova (CZE x7) bt Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 6-3, 6-3
Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROM x29) bt Katie Swan (GBR) 6-0, 6-3
Kiki Bertens (NED x20) bt Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-4, 6-0
Venus Williams (USA x9) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-4, 6-3
Donna Vekic (CRO) bt Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 7-5, 6-4
Serena Williams (USA x25) bt Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) 6-1, 6-4
Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) bt Sorana Cirstea (ROM) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Madison Keys (USA x10) bt Luksika Kumkhum (THA) 6-4, 6-3
Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Lucie Safarova (CZE) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x32) 7-5, 6-4
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x2) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
With inputs from AFP
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