Serena Williams of the USA lines up a backhand against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria. (Photo: Oli Scarff, AFP/Getty Images)
Serena Williams moved smoothly and efficiently in the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champ, breezed past qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-4.
Williams, who missed Wimbledon last year while on maternity leave, is chasing her 24th major title.
Williams' serve, a concern coming in after she withdrew from the French Open because of an injury, was solid, with room for improvement.
Earlier, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams once again dropped the opening set, and once again dominated the rest of the way to win. The No. 9 seed, at 38 the oldest woman in the draw, came back to beat 141st-ranked qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 to reach the third round.
Roger Federer scored 35 consecutive points on serve on the way to a 6-4, 6-4, 6- 1 against Lukas Lacko of Slovakia.
Federer didn’t drop a point on his serve in the entire second set and kept that streak going until he was 30-0 up at 4-1 in the third, when Lacko sent a backhand winner down the line.
In total, the eight-time champion lost just nine of 61 points on his serve and broke Lacko five times, including with a forehand winner to close out the match.
American Madison Keys breezed into the third round, defeating Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand 6-4, 6-3.