By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, May 14, 2014

 

Serena Williams moved comfortably past Andrea Petkovic on Wednesday in Rome, 6-2, 6-2, and showed no signs of her left thigh injury in the process.

Photo Source/ Julian Finney/ Getty

The moment she took the court on Wednesday in Rome things were a lot better than they were last week in Madrid for Serena Williams: no heavy strapping on the left thigh.

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And, in typical Williams fashion, the moment her second-round match with German Andrea Petkovic began, Williams took control.

Williams raced out to a 4-0 lead, crushing a down-the-line backhand winner to secure a double-break lead, then after a brief measure of competitiveness from Petkovic, served out the set to take the lead.

The second set would be almost a carbon copy of the first, as Williams again stroked a backhand down the line for a winner for a double-break and a 3-0 lead, but Petkovic would mount a brief rally to get to 3-2 before the world No. 1 separated herself again to win the final three games on the trot.

The victory marks a big milestone for Williams, as she ties her big sister for 10th on the WTA's all-time win list with 651.

Venus was knocked off by Carla Suarez Navarro earlier on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-2, which means that Serena can move into sole possession of 10th on the list if she can get by Varvara Lepchenko in her round of 16 match.

Williams has now won 17 consecutive sets at Rome and has not dropped more than three games in any of them. Nadia Petrova was the last player to take a set off of Williams at Rome, in the round of 32 in 2012.