Filed under: Tennis, Wimbledon
Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic all booked their spots in the third round of Wimbledon - but Sabine Lisicki served up the biggest shock of the tournament so far by ousting French Open champion Li Na.Whilst far from her best in the early stages, Williams, who only returned from a year-long absence from the game last week, once again demonstrated her remarkable resolve as she fought back from a set down to book her place in the third round at the expense of Simona Halep.
The seventh seed recorded a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory in what was a fiercely fought and hugely entertaining start to Thursday's play on Court Two.
Just as in her first match, the younger Williams sister started sluggishly as Halep raced into a 5-2 lead and the Romanian held her nerve to serve out for a one-set lead.
COMPETITION: Win a HEAD Tennis Racquet Signed By Andy Murray
An historic victory beckoned for the dimunitive 19-year-old, however Williams had other ideas and she upped the intensity in the second set to move into a 4-1 lead, clinching the set with a further break, which was achieved via the help of the net cord.
Williams broke at the first opportunity in the deciding set thanks to a measured groundstroke which kissed the baseline and, from there, the result never looked in doubt as she reeled off five of the next six games to progress.
But a huge surprise was to follow later as third seed Li of China blew a one-set lead as well as two match points to lose 3-6 6-4 8-6 to unseeded Lisicki.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, the 18th seed, defeated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-3 6-0, while 12th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Alexandra Dulgheru 6-0 6-2.
In the men's draw, world No. 2 Djokovic eased to a 6-3 6-4 6-2 triumph over South Africa's Kevin Anderson, while fifth seed Robin Soderling fought back from two sets down to defeat former champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-7 (5) 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-4.
Federer, the six-time champion, was in imperious form as he cruised to a 6-2 6-3 6-2 triumph over Adrian Mannarino in just 88 minutes in the final match of the night under the Centre Court roof.
The world No. 3 will now meet experienced Argentinian David Nalbandian for a place in the last 16.
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