China's Zheng Jie set up a potential Wimbledon revenge mission against four-time champion Serena Williams as she eased to a 6-4, 6-2 second-round victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak Thursday.

Zheng was defeated by Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2008 and will have a chance to avenge that heartbreaking loss in a third-round rematch as the former world No.1 beats the Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 later Thursday.

After being forced to come from a set down to defeat Stephanie Dubois of Canada in the first round, this was a much more comfortable win for Zheng.

The Chinese star, seeded 25th, hadn't been past the Wimbledon second round since becoming the first wild card to reach the semifinals at the All England Club four years ago.

The 28-year-old ended that disappointing run in emphatic fashion out on Court 19 and can now look forward to only her second appearance in the last 32 of a Grand Slam since 2010.

Zheng made the perfect start with a break in the opening game of the match.

Her nerves were tested when Wozniak broke back to level at 4-4 and she passed with flying colours, breaking in the next game and serving out the set.

Zheng seized complete control of the match with two breaks in the first three games of the second set.

Although she dropped serve once herself, Zheng responded with another break and clinched the win on her fourth match point.

World No.1 Maria Sharapova was forced to dig deep before securing her place in the third round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 6-0 victory over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova yesterday.

The 25-year-old, who won Wimbledon in 2004, had recovered from 5-2 down to take the first set and had just broken to move 3-1 ahead when the tie was suspended due to bad light late Wednesday.

Chinese No.1 Li Na crashed out of the second round in a straight-sets defeat to Romania's Sorana Cirstea late Wednesday. The 11th seed, who also lost in the second round in 2011, lost 6-3, 6-4 on Court 4 in 1 hour 33 minutes.

In men's competition, Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the Wimbledon third round for 17 years as the 19th seed crushed France's Florent Serra 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 yesterday.

Nishikori had already made history earlier this year when he became the first Japanese man to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in 80 years.

Now the 22-year-old has a small slice of Wimbledon history as well after emulating Shuzo Matsuoka's run to the last 32 back in 1995. Matsuoka went on to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to Pete Sampras.

World No.1 Djokovic defeated America's Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round late Wednesday. The Serb next tackles Czech 28th seed Radek Stepanek for a place in the last 16.

AFP - Global Times