By Chris Oddo | Thursday, June 26, 2014

 

There was no second-round hiccup for Serena Williams at Wimbledon. The five-time champion raced past Chanelle Scheepers, 6-1, 6-1, in 49 miinutes.

Photo Source: Kieran Galvin/Camera Sport

Rumor has it that Serena Williams is still reeling from her loss to Garbine Muguruza at this year’s French Open. If that’s the case, then the five-time Wimbledon champion has figured out how to turn her anger into positive tennis, as Williams has now lost only five games in her first two Wimbledon appearances after Thursday's 6-1, 6-1 thrashing.

Media Mash: Day 3 Social Media Highlights from Wimbledon

Williams was dominant from start to finish in her 49-minute beatdown of South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers, hammering eight aces and never facing a break point, while knocking off 26 winners against only 7 unforced errors.

Making her 15th career Wimbledon appearance, Williams improved her career record at the All England Club to 72-9 in taking out Scheepers for the third time in three career meetings without the loss of a set.

Though she has been reluctant to embrace her role as a the favorite in a tournament in the past, this year Williams is embracing that fact and all the pressure that comes with it.

“I’m always the favorite,” Serena said afterwards. “It’s been that way for the last three years and maybe years before that. So it can create pressure. But it’s ok – I’d rather it was that way.”

Williams 2nd-round triumph sets up a rematch with one of the women to have already defeated her this year—Alize Cornet. The 25th-seeded Frenchwoman, who stunned Williams in the Dubai semifinal in February, defeated Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 5-7 6-3.

In other early action on Day 4, Ana Ivanovic won her seventh consecutive match on grass, taking out China’s Zheng Jie to reach the third round.