Venus Williams fought back to beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm in a thrilling Centre Court encounter.
Former champ digs deep to progress
Venus Williams was forced to dig deep to beat Kimiko Date-Krumm in an epic second-round encounter on Centre Court.
While rain fell elsewhere, Williams ceded the first set to the Japanese veteran, a semi-finalist here in 1996, on a tie-break - but even in doing that she had to scrap her way back from 5-1 down.
The American moved a break up early in the second set en route to drawing level in the match before prevailing in a hard-fought third to clinch a 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 8-6 victory in nearly three hours.
The roof was closed over Centre Court - but Williams and Date-Krumm offered the watching Duchess of Cornwall some high-class entertainment.
Williams will face Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round after the unseeded Spaniard overcame Monica Niculescu in straight sets.
Luck
Williams said: "I thought she played unbelievable. I thought she had some luck on her side with net-cords and balls hitting lines.
"No-one would come to the net as much as she does. This is a great surface for her too. It was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win.
"Thankfully I had some answers. I thought my movement was really good and I was competing really well."
Date-Krumm said: "It was a good fight for me. She's a five-time champion and I can fight with her. This was a good match for me. As long as I am enjoying it I will continue playing."
Zvonareva battles on
Meanwhile, last year's beaten finalist Vera Zvonareva won an all-Russian battle with Elena Vesnina.
Zvonareva - who was taken to three sets in the first round by American Alison Riske - did not have things all her own way again despite a very confident start on Court Two.
The second seed cruised through the opening set, winning it 6-1, but then started to struggle badly on serve in the second.
Indeed, she was broken on no fewer than four occasions and had to come from behind to force a tie-break but, having done so, she eventually squeezed through it to complete a 6-1 7-6 (7-5) success.
Another of last year's semi-finalists, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, booked her place in the third round with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Petra Martic of Croatia, while fourth seed Victoria Azarenka dropped only three games as she crushed Iveta Benesova 6-0 6-3.
