Serena Williams handed South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers a Wimbledon masterclass as the five-time champion raced into the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory on Thursday
Serena Williams returns to Chanelle Scheepers. Pic/AFP
London: Serena Williams handed South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers a Wimbledon masterclass as the five-time champion raced into the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory on Thursday.
Serena Williams returns to Chanelle Scheepers. Pic/AFP
Top seed Williams needed only an hour to dismiss Anna Tatishvili in the first round and the world number one was even more ruthless against Scheepers, crushing her in 49 minutes to set up a last 32 meeting with French 25th seed Alize Cornet.
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The 32-year-old had seethed over her shock first round exit against Garbine Muguruza at the French Open last month and appears intention on taking out those frustrations on her Wimbledon opponents.
Serena, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, overwhelmed Scheepers with 26 winners, compared to five from the world number 94, and eight aces.
Williams admitted being expected to rout lower ranked opponents like Scheepers can sometimes be a burden, but she is thriving despite the pressure of her status as tournament favourite.
"It's been like that for the past two or three years. I am always the favourite and that can be a bit of pressure, but it's ok. I have learnt to deal with it," Serena said.
Williams also revealed she was relieved to have avoided any more embarrassing tumbles on the slick grasscourt after falling into the crowd during her doubles match with sister Venus on Wednesday night.
"I was out really late in a fun doubles match last night with Venus," she added.
"Some wonderful gents caught me as I fell into the crowd, It was so embarrassing, I just had to laugh."
Scheepers had finally made it to the second round at Wimbledon for the first time after four consecutive opening round defeats.
But, faced with the daunting task of trying to tame Serena, the 30-year-old could have been forgiven for wondering if it had been worth the effort.
The American was in full flight right from the start and clinched an embarrassingly one-sided set in only 25 minutes.
The Court One onslaught continued in the second set as Serena showed no mercy to the shell-shocked Scheepers, adding two more breaks to complete a ruthless destruction.
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