French Open champion Serena Williams overcame the jinx of Court Two and the unexpected challenge of Belgian veteran Els Callens to earn her place in the last 16 with a hard fought 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/2) victory this afternoon. 20-year-old Williams, the second seed, faced a stern test of her Wimbledon credentials from a qualifier 11 years her senior, who belied her 119 world ranking to push the American all the way in their one hour 39-minute battle.
Former US Open champion Williams, with 15 WTA titles to her name, was determined not to go out of the championship on Court Two, dubbed 'The Graveyard of Champions', as fellow American and seven-time champion Pete Sampras had earlier in the week.
But Callens, who had never been beyond the second round here in six previous tries rushed to a 5-3 lead in the first set forcing a tie-break which she lost after 50 minutes play. In the second set the Belgian broke and held to go 4-2, but Williams dug deep and levelled 4-4. Callens held and broke again to go 5-5, but once again the American proved the stronger in the tiebreak.
Williams managed only 51 percent of her first serves and had 22 unforced errors compared to 19 for her opponent, but hit five more winners than her opponent with 25.
She goes on to meet fellow American Chanda Rubin for a place in the quarter-finals for the third straight year.
Third round scores:Amelie Mauresmo(Fra x9) bt Anastasia Myskina(Rus x18) 6-4 6-2Laura Granville (USA) bt Mary Pierce (Fra) 3-6 6-4 6-1Serena Williams (USA x2) bt Els Callens (Bel) 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/2) Jennifer Capriati (USA x3) bt Daja Bedanova (Cze x26) 6-4 6-2Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) bt Miriam Oremans (Ned) 7-6 (7/5) 6-4Chanda Rubin (USA) bt Tatiana Panova (Rus x21) 6-4 6-1Jelena Dokic (Yug x7) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra x25) 7-5 6-2Daniela Hantuchova (Svk x11) bt Maja Matevzic (Slo) 6-4 6-4
Filed by Shane Murray
