TENNIS/Wimbledon women:Caroline Wozniacki looked every inch the world number one as she comfortably dismissed Virginie Razzano in their second-round match on Wimbledon's Court Two this afternoon.
The 20-year-old Dane, looking to dispel the theory that the top-ranked woman rarely challenges at a grand slam, needed just an hour and 11 minutes to take an impressive 6-1 6-3 victory.
Her serve worked well throughout but it was the quality of her groundstrokes in particular her backhand that caught the eye and she only made one unforced error on her way to the win.
Tsvetana Pironkova took revenge for her defeat to Vera Zvonareva in last year’s semi-finals as she knocked out the second seed in the third round.
The Bulgarian, seeded 32nd, had a superb run to the last four in London last year, beating Venus Williams on the way, but she was denied a place in the final by Russian Zvonareva.
A three-set success for Zvonareva was followed by defeat to Serena Williams, but there will be no return to the final this year for the 26-year-old from Moscow.
Pironkova was dominant in their Court Two clash, winning 6-2 6-3 and now faces a last-16 clash with Venus Williams in an attempt to knock her out of the tournament for the second straight year.
Venus cruised into the fourth round as she mercilessly put Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to the sword with a 6-0 6-2 win on Court One.
Questions over Williams’ ability to still mix it with the best were raised as she struggled in her previous round against Kimiko Date-Krumm, but the American looked back to her best, delighting a packed crowd with a brutal and clinical display.
The 31-year-old, who has just come through a lengthy injury absence, bludgeoned her way to a faultless first-set whitewash and gave her opponent no chance in the second.
British teenager Laura Robson bowed out but only after giving former champion and this year’s title favourite Maria Sharapova a scare on Court One.
Robson, 17, made the perfect start and raced into a 4-1 lead but Sharapova broke back to draw level before taking the set into a tie-break.
Sharapova, who was Robson’s age when she won the title here in 2004, then had to come from a mini-break down to claim the opening set.
The Russian stepped up a gear in the second set and opened a 5-1 lead but Robson showed real heart to keep battling and broke Sharapova’s serve to stay in the match.
Eventually, Sharapova, the three-time grand slam champion, prevailed 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 and she will now face Klara Zakopalova.
Latest women's results (seeding in brackets)
Second round
(1) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) 6-1 6-3
(5) Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Laura Robson (Gbr) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
(9) Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spa) 4-6 7-5 6-2
(20) Shuai Peng (Chn) bt Elena Baltacha (Gbr) 4-6 6-2 7-5,
Third round
Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul) bt (2) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 6-2 6-3
(8) Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt (29) Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-3 6-3
Ksenia Pervak (Rus) bt (11) Andrea Petkovic (Ger) 6-4 7-6 (7-2)
(19) Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt (12) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 4-6 6-3 6-4
(23) Venus Williams (USA) bt Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez (Spa) 6-0 6-2, (32)
Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-3 6-2