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.