Summary Williams avoided upset that sent top players tumbling out of Wimbledon by beating Caroline Garcia.
a.
LONDON (AP) - Five-time champion Serena Williams avoided the kind of early upset that has sent many top players tumbling out of Wimbledon, beating Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the third round.
A day after Roger Federer headed the list of big names to go out in the second round, the top-ranked Williams never looked in danger against the 100th-ranked French qualifier.
Williams broke twice in each set to set up a match with Japan s Kimiko Date-Krumm, who at 42 became the oldest woman to reach the third round at Wimbledon in the Open era.
Date-Krumm beat Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-4, 7-5 to reach the third round for the first time since 1996, when she went to the semifinals.
"She s incredibly inspiring," the 31-year-old Williams said about Date-Krumm. "She s so fit, she s done so well. I ve never played her before. I watched her play when I was super young, growing up."
Date-Krumm is the second-oldest woman to have won a match at Wimbledon after Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she reached the second round in 2004. She took a 12-year break from tennis before returning in 2008.
"I don t know how she s able to do so well," Williams said.
Whether Williams can keep playing for another decade remains to be seen, but she certainly doesn t show any sign of slowing down in her 30s. The defending champion is looking for a sixth Wimbledon title, and saw her two main rivals
Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka both eliminated on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Garcia is seen as a potential future star in women s tennis, with a game especially suited for grass, but couldn t force a single break point against the American s strong serve on Court 1.
"She s incredibly promising, she does everything well," Williams said. "Her serve is amazing, so I knew it would be a good match on the grass."
After that wild Wednesday, which also saw seven players retiring or withdrawing with injuries, a feeling of normality returned to the All England Club.
Sixth-seeded Li Na of China did look in trouble for a while before overcoming a poor second set to beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.
