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Defending champion Serena Williams has no intention of surrendering her Wimbledon crown, warning her rivals: “Don’t bet against me”.
Williams, the four-time champion, eased past Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-2 on Saturday to reach the last 16 in her most dominant display at the tournament. She hit 10 aces and 32 winners as she outclassed her opponent.
“It’s the best I’ve played since I came back,” Williams said.
“So it’s good. I was a little more consistent and I played my game more. I wasn’t as tight and nervous and uptight. I was able to relax more.”
Williams will face France’s Marion Bartoli, the 2007 runner-up, for a place in the quarter-finals.
The American seventh seed had come into her 12th Wimbledon on the back of an 11-month injury lay-off, caused by a foot injury followed by life-threatening blood clots on her lungs.
Williams needed three sets to see off Aravane Rezai and Simona Halep in her first two matches this week, but the 29-year-old looked back to her best on Saturday on Court One.
“I’m feeling better and glad to be still in the tournament,” she said.
“I just need that rhythm that I have been missing and keep serving like I did today.”
Williams, who was furious to have been exiled to Court Two for her previous match, said she expects a tough challenge from Bartoli.
“She won at Eastbourne. She’s doing really well. It should be a great match.”
Williams, whose ranking slipped to 25 during her absence from the tour, needs to make the semi-finals to ensure she doesn’t drop out of the world’s top 100.
Another former champion, Maria Sharapova, admits she will have to raise her game as the battle for the women’s title hots up.
The fifth seed’s serene progress into the second week continued as she crushed unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-2 6-3 to maintain her record of not dropping a set so far.
But the 2004 champion knows sterner tests lie in wait before she can dream of winning her second Wimbledon crown.
Sharapova will play Chinese 20th seed Peng Shuai in the fourth round, while Williams and world number one Caroline Wozniacki are possible opponents in the latter stages.
“There’s no doubt you have to improve with the second week coming. I think that’s always the toughest part. That’s where you hope you raise your level,” Sharapova said.
“The opponents get tougher the more matches you play, especially at a grand slam. Raising your level is what it’s all about at the grand slams, especially the second week.”
Some pundits make Sharapova the favourite to win Wimbledon, but the former world number one doesn’t buy into the hype.
“I haven’t really got as much expectations as maybe you guys have, based on the fact that I haven’t been past the fourth round for a few years,” she said.
“I’m happy at this point that I got to where I am last year and, hopefully this year, I can go a step further and then even more.”
Wozniacki secured her last 16 spot with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova.
She will next play Slovakian 24th seed Dominika Cibulkova, who defeated Julia Goerges 6-4 1-6 6-3 to move into the fourth round.
Other winners on Saturday included Austrian Tamira Paszek, who defeated French Open finalist Francesca Schiavone, German wildcard Sabine Lisicki and unseeded Czech Petra Cetkovska.
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