Venus williams advances to third round in Wimbledon 2016

Five-time champion Venus Williams withstood a stern test from rising Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari to move through to the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The No.8 seed steadied for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the world No.115, as intermittent drops of rain threatened play throughout the second and third sets.

Barring her loss to an unranked Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open, Williams had not lost to a player outside the top 100 at a Grand Slam sinceBarbara Schwartz at the 1999 French Open but, after dropping the second set to the pumped-up 20-year-old, her streak looked in danger.

Jana cepelova into third round of the Wimbledon 2016

LONDON, Great Britain - No.2 seed Muguruza saw her eight-match Grand Slam winning streak come to an end in the second round of Wimbledon, falling to dangerous qualifier Jana cepelova, 6-3, 6-2.

Simona halep win's over Schiavone into Wimbledon 2016

LONDON, Great Britain
halep saw her second round against former World No.4 Francesca Schiavone  as one of the many canceled during Wimbledon's extensive rain delays on Wednesday, but made up for lost time in impressive style on Thursday afternoon, needing just over an hour to roar past the Italian veteran, 6-1, 6-1, to reach the third round.

"It was a good match," the Romanian said in her post-match press conference. "I played really well. I was very happy with the way that I mixed the game.

"I think I did pretty well on all what I had to do, because I knew before the match how I have to play."

Camila Giorgi in press conference. Wimbledon 2016

Camila Giorgi talks to the media after her 2-6, 7-5, 4-6 defeat by Garbine Muguruza

Q. That was a very difficult run to have at the beginning, very difficult match. If you had a chance now, what do you think you might have done differently, looking back on it?
CAMILA GIORGI: What I will change? Nothing, because it's already past.

Q. Are you going to the Olympics?
CAMILA GIORGI: I don't know if I'm going to go.

Q. You haven't decided yet?
CAMILA GIORGI: Yes.

Q. What goals do you have this year? Any particular goals you have this year?
CAMILA GIORGI: Yes, to climb my ranking again. That's all.

Q. How did you feel? You were happy with how you played?
CAMILA GIORGI: Happy, no. But I play a good match, and some points were really important and I didn't take these points.

Q. Muguruza has been playing grass court, practicing grass court tennis. Have you had much chance to play grass court?
CAMILA GIORGI: Yes, I have chance to practice.

Q. Were you impressed by Garbiñe's form? I wanted to ask you about the No. 1 ranking. Serena has held it now for almost 300 weeks. Garbiñe has a chance here to pass her and some other players do. When you play against Garbiñe, do you think she can be that type of player that earns the No. 1 ranking?
CAMILA GIORGI: I don't know. In tennis women, everything's possible.

Simona halep in press conference. Wimbledon 2016

Simona Halep speaks to the media after her 6-4, 6-1 win over Anna Schmiedlova

Q. Congratulations on that win. It didn't look like you were playing your first grass court event of the season. How do you sum it all up?
SIMONA HALEP: Yeah, it was my first match on grass. Pretty difficult at the beginning. It's tough because I'm not used. But I had many days practicing here. I feel the grass. I feel the court. I feel the atmosphere here. So I'm happy that I could win today. I'm looking forward for the next round, and maybe I will play better after two days.

Q. What was your grass court preparation? Was it just here?
SIMONA HALEP: Yeah, just here. I played two, three days in Birmingham, and then I couldn't start the tournament. So I went home for treatment for four days, and then I came straight to London. I was practicing here.

Q. How are you feeling now injury wise?
SIMONA HALEP: I have like five days already without pain, so I feel good. Hopefully will stay like this, because this Achilles is very strange. Sometimes it's hurting me; sometimes not. Just I hope to be okay.

Serena Williams advances to 2 round into Wimbledon 2016

LONDON, England 
Serena Williams began her tilt at Grand Slam title number 22 by easing past  Wimbledon debutante amra Sadikovic on Tuesday afternoon.

Remarkably, given their respective experience, early on it was Williams that looked the more uncomfortable on Centre Court, slipping 15-40 behind in her opening service game. She survived this early scare, reeling off the next 13 points to set her on course for a 6-2, 6-4 victory - her 80th at the famous old venue.

"I never underestimate anyone," Williams said when asked about her unheralded opponent. "I don't think it was tougher than I thought. It was definitely tough."

Angelique kerber in press conference. Wimbledon 2016

Angelique Kerber talks to the media after her 6-2, 6-2 win over Laura Robson

Q. A different outcome to the last time you played Laura. Talk us through how you felt that game went. 
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I think it was a different match than, like, few years ago completely. I think the first two games I need to start my rhythm. So after, like, the first few games, I was playing better and better. 
It's always tough to play against her because she's also a lefty. I remember, of course, a little bit the match few years ago. Yeah, I was trying to staying focused and playing my game, like the plan was, playing my game and being aggressive by myself.

Q. A lot has happened since then. How much did the last match actually play in your mind?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Like, on the court, not too much. But before I was thinking a little bit about this match because I was playing against her and I was also with Torben, with my coach now. We spoke a little bit about the match yesterday. 
But, yeah it happened so much in the years after that I was trying, you know, playing from zero, a new game, a new day. That was actually in my mind.

Q. It was just what you needed at the moment, wasn't it, a confident win on a big stage?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yes, always nice to play on the big stage, especially here in Wimbledon. I mean, I like this tournament so much. I have great memories. I reached the semis one year. 
Yeah, but it's always tough to play the first few rounds at the Grand Slam. I'm happy that I win my first round here, of course. After the first round loss in Paris, it's great to start the tournament like this.

Sabine lisicki into 2 round of the Wimbledon 2016

LONDON, England - There are fast starts and there are fast starts. And Sabine lisicki' s opening game at this year's Wimbledon certainly falls into the latter category.

Three aces and another booming serve down the T saw Lisicki wrap up the opening game of her first-round match with shelby Rogers in just 52 seconds.

The German, a finalist at the All England Club in 2013, barely slowed down as the match progressed, living up to her 'Boom Boom' nickname by hitting 19 winners and wrapping up a 6-1, 6-3 victory after a minute shy of one hour on court.

Ekaterina alexandrova win's over Ana Ivanovic into Wimbledon 2016

Russian qualifier Ekaterina alexandrova has sprung the biggest upset of her career to oust former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the opening round of Wimbledon on Monday.

The world No.223 defeated the No.23 seed 6-2, 7-5 to claim her fourth straight win on the grass having won through qualifying at Roehampton last week.

Alexandrova was the last woman to win her way through the qualifying draw with a mammoth three-hour-plus 2-6, 7-5, 13-11 comeback against Brit Harriet Dart on Friday under the shadows of fading early-evening sunlight at the Bank of England Sport Centre.

Three days later, she made the most of her late charge into the main draw, racing to a set and a 4-2 second-set lead against Ivanovic.

Sensing the enormity of the result she was closing in on, the Russian surrendered three straight games, with the Serb taking a 5-4 lead on the back of a big serve out wide to draw the error.

Stemming the flow of games against her, Alexandrova brought up game point with her sixth ace and held for 5-5 when Ivanovic missed well wide off the forehand wing.

Venus williams in press conference. Wimbledon 2016

Q. How much pressure do you feel as the defending champion here, being that it was the last slam title you won, coming into this event?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, honestly, I don't feel any pressure. I feel good and confident.

Q. After the French Open, you posted that video kind of talking about your transition, getting back on court, hitting again. Can you talk a little bit about what your preparation for Wimbledon has been, how much you've been able to hit on the grass, practice... 
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I got here I think on Monday. So I've had a lot of time on the grass. In the States, usually I just hit on the hard court. But the grass has slowed down a lot. I mean, it's a huge difference still, but it's not like it was 10 years ago. 
I did the same preparation, and it seems to work for me.

Q. What do you enjoy most about playing on the grass of Wimbledon?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I enjoy it just being on grass. It's usually the only tournament I play on grass. It's a unique experience. You know, it's just that one time a year you just get to get on this amazing, beautiful surface. It feels really good.

Q. What is most suited for your game about these courts?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you know, the speed. I guess they're a little faster than most other surfaces. So I think that works good for me. 
But either way, I just feel like all surfaces I'm pretty well adept on. Yeah, I don't know what suits me.

Q. Your first opponent is a Swiss girl. Do you have any information about her?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Not yet. But normally, my coach obviously does a lot of research, or the most that he can, then we go from there.

Q. Do you take time to seriously reflect on the big defeats you've had this year, Kerber in Australia, Muguruza in Paris, and what do you learn from them and learn about yourself from them?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's important to learn from every loss that you have. I think in particular I usually do throughout my whole career have been able to, like, learn a lot, to come off, to come back a much better player.

Q. You said your coach would research about your opponent. Do you prefer to play someone you have never played because it's a new challenge or do you prefer playing someone you know already?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Honestly, it doesn't matter who I play. It doesn't matter to me.

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON WIMBLEDON, GREAT BRITAIN JUN 27 - JUL 10 2016 main draw singles

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Dominika cibulkova conquer's Eastbourne open 2016

EASTBOURNE, England
Dominika cibulkova capped off a fantastic week on the English seaside by winning her career-first grass court title at the Aegon international EASTBOURNE,  blasting past Nottingham champion Karolina Pliskova  7-5, 6-3.

Cibulkova, who was forced to miss much of the 2015 season after undergoing Achilles surgery, seems to have firmly put her injury woes behind her. The resurgent Slovak was into her fourth final of the year at Eastbourne - including a run to the title in April at the Katowice. In fact, she's tied only with Serena Williams for most finals appearances so far this year