• Wimbledon, Day Three

Venus scrapes past Date-Krumm to reach third round

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Venus Williams was the first woman to book her place in the third round at Wimbledon, but was forced to battle from a set down against veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm.

With a combined age of 71, the pair opened proceedings under the roof on Centre Court, with rain delaying the start of play on the outside courts. The five-time champion was made to work hard for a 6-7(6) 6-3 8-6 win to secure her 70th victory at the All England Club.

But it was not plain sailing for Williams, who immediately found herself in trouble, after being broken to love in her first service game, Date-Krumm stormed to a 3-0 lead after a passing shot sealed the double break.

The No. 23 seed broke back, but it was not until she was serving to stay in the set that she managed to hold serve. The confidence began to return, and the American produced a remarkable comeback, saving two set points to force a tiebreak, but Date-Krumm held her nerve to snatch the opening set.

An early break put Williams in control of the second set, and her first love service game consolidated her lead as she swept through the second set. However, Date-Krumm refused to be beaten, and it was only in the 14th game of the decider that the American found a breakthrough - wrapping up a hard-fought victory after nearly three hours on court.

Ultimately, Williams' serve proved the difference - while the American was able to rely on her serve to dig herself out of trouble - firing 12 aces, Date-Krumm served a solitary ace and three double faults proved costly.

Williams will now meet Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in round three after the Spaniard thrashed Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-0. The American will be grateful to Martinez Sanchez for knocking Jelena Jankovic out in the first round - Williams was the defending champion when the Serb knocked her out in the third round in 2006.

Meanwhile, Germany's Julia Goerges strolled into the second round with a 6-3 6-0 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues, while No. 13 seed Agnieszka Radwanska got a free pass into the second round after the retirement of Olga Govortsova.

No. 32 seed Tsvetana Pironkova and No. 27 seed Jarmila Gajdosova also progressed unscathed. Vera Zvonareva beat compatriot Elena Vesnina, while fourth seed Victoria Azarenka thumped Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0 6-3.

Andrea Petkovic booked her place in the next round, but there was disappointment for No. 30 seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the American falling to Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi 6-4 5-7 7-5.

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