Serena storms into fourth round

Serena Williams took the new No.2 Court by storm today as she played her 200th Grand Slam match and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Roberta Vinci of Italy. There were one or two minor faults in the Williams display but largely she was well in control of affairs and left the 53rd ranked Italian chasing in her slipstream. It was often spectacular stuff, with the Italian prepared to try anything to slow Serena down but being unable to do so for long. Serena is twice champion of Wimbledon, twice runner-up, and her aim this week is to put in all the groundwork required to go through to the final where, most likely, her sister Venus will await. Williams hit 10 aces and more than twice as many winners as Vinci who was often forced on to the back foot but never became totally despondent. Considering the weight of shot that was against her, she was satisfied to break the Williams serve twice, once in each set. Vinci had no such luck with her own serve and lost it twice in a row at the start of the match. This immediately put her out of contention in the first set, which Williams took after 29 minutes. The Italian now needed to boost her confidence but she dropped her serve to love at the start of the second set when Williams hit two forehand winners and a backhand service return winner to extend her lead. Williams did lose serve in the sixth game when she double faulted twice and, after being 0-30 down two games later, served three aces as well as a drive volley that scorched the turf. The match ended in 67 minutes when Williams served her final ace for victory. Court 2 - Ladies' Singles - 3rd Round Roberta Vinci ITA 3 4 Serena Williams USA (2) 6 6