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Venus books third round spot

London - Venus Williams has said she enjoying the winning feeling at Wimbledon as the five-time champion made it through to the third round on Wednesday for the first time since 2011.

Williams, seeded 30th, was broken early in both sets by Japan's world number 41 Kurumi Nara in their round two clash on Court 3, but eventually triumphed 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 in a 91-minute workout.

She will face 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round if the Czech sixth seed beats Germany's Mona Barthel.

"Feeling good getting into the next round," Williams said, already looking ahead to a potential clash of the former champions.

"I think we both play a similar game, really go for it and she's one of the kind of players that can get really hot and every time she plays me, she plays really well, so I have to be ready for that," the American said.

Her first meeting with Nara was a battle of little and large. At 1.55 metres tall, Nara is the shortest player in the top 100, while Williams at 1.85 metres is the third tallest, behind Maria Sharapova and Karolina Pliskova.

Williams turned on the style in the first-set decider.

"The tie-breaker, that's what it comes down to: who's going to be more consistent and more aggressive and in the beginning, she was but thankfully I was able to turn it around," she said.

Nara, who has never got past the second round at the All England Club, again got the early break but Williams reeled off six straight games in a row to seal the match.

"You get so focused, you don't really think abut the games and she had some great shots in that (first) game and some lucky returns and bounces but you have to kind of take it all on the grass," said the 34-year-old veteran.

Williams is the oldest woman left in the tournament after 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan crashed out on day one.

The second-round victory is the first time Williams has put together back-to-back wins at Wimbledon since 2011.

It is Venus's 17th Wimbledon appearance, and her 63rd career Grand Slam appearance. She is joint fourth on the all-time list with Ai Sugiyama, while Amy Frazier holds the record at 71.

She now has the most match wins of any active player, at 73, with only Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Chris Evert having more.

Wimbledon results on Wednesday, the third day of the 2014 championships at the All England Club (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Second round
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT x12) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (11/9), 4-6, 7-5
Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Blaz Rola (SLO) 6-1, 6-1, 6-0
Kevin Anderson (RSA x20) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 7-6 (7/0), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Fabio Fognini (ITA x16) bt Tim Petz (GER) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x11) bt Luke Saville (AUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Aleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR x21) bt Benjamin Becker (GER) 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/0), 6-3, 6-4

Women

Second round
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x22) bt Misaki Doi (JPN) 7-5, 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x4) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 6-4, 6-0
Petra Kvitova (CZE x6) bt Mona Barthel (GER) 6-2, 6-0
Venus Williams (USA x30) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1
Barbora Zhlavov Strcov (CZE) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS x32) 6-4, 6-2
Li Na (CHN x2) bt Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) 6-2, 6-2

First round
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) bt Tara Moore (GBR) 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 9-7
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4

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