Wimbledon 2015: Wednesday Results, Highlights and Scores from All England Club

Serena Williams continued her pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam with a routine second-round victory over Timea Babos at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday. Fellow top seed Novak Djokovic followed suit on the men's side.    

It was a rather mundane day around the grounds of the All England Club. A calf injury forced No. 5 men's seed Kei Nishikori to withdraw, and the always unpredictable Ana Ivanovic bowed out from the women's draw. Beyond that, there were few notable exits.

With that in mind, let's check out the complete set of singles results from Day 3 at the season's third major tournament. It's followed by a look at some of the top stories from Wednesday's action.

Men's Results

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
2	(1) Novak Djokovic	Jarkko Nieminen	6-4, 6-2, 6-3
2	(4) Stan Wawrinka	Victor Estrella Burgos	6-3, 6-4, 7-5
2	Santiago Giraldo	(5) Kei Nishikori	walkover
2	(7) Milos Raonic	Tommy Haas	6-0, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6
2	(9) Marin Cilic	Ricardas Berankis	6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5
2	(11) Grigor Dimitrov	Steve Johnson	7-6, 6-2, 7-6
2	(14) Kevin Anderson	Marsel Ilhan	6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4
2	(16) David Goffin	Liam Broady	7-6, 6-1, 6-1
2	(17) John Isner	Matthew Ebden	6-2, 7-6, 6-4
2	(21) Richard Gasquet	Kenny De Schepper	6-0, 6-3, 6-3
2	(24) Leonardo Mayer	Marcel Granollers	6-3, 7-6, 6-3
2	(26) Nick Kyrgios	Juan Monaco	7-6, 6-3, 6-4
2	(27) Bernard Tomic	Pierre-Hugues Herbert	7-6, 6-4, 7-6
2	Fernando Verdasco	(32) Dominic Thiem	5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2	Marcos Baghdatis	John Millman	6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
2	Denis Kudla	Alexander Zverev	6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4

Women's Results

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
1	(21) Madison Keys	Stefanie Voegele	6-7, 6-3, 6-4
1	Elizaveta Kulichkova	Yanina Wickmayer	3-6, 7-6, 10-8
2	(1) Serena Williams	Timea Babos	6-4, 6-1
2	(4) Maria Sharapova	Richel Hogenkamp	6-3, 6-1
2	(6) Lucie Safarova	Su-Wei Hsieh	6-2, 6-3
2	Bethanie Mattek-Sands	(7) Ana Ivanovic	6-3, 6-4
2	Coco Vandeweghe	(11) Karolina Pliskova	7-6, 6-4
2	(14) Andrea Petkovic	Mariana Duque-Marino	6-3, 6-1
2	(16) Venus Williams	Yulia Putintseva	7-6, 6-4
2	Aleksandra Krunic	(19) Sara Errani	6-3, 6-7, 6-2
2	(22) Samantha Stosur	Urszula Radwanska	6-3, 6-4
2	(23) Victoria Azarenka	Kirsten Flipkens	6-3, 6-3
2	(29) Irina-Camelia Begu	Lesia Tsurenko	7-5, 6-7, 7-5
2	(30) Belinda Bencic	Anna-Lena Friedsam	7-5, 4-6, 6-0
2	Heather Watson	Daniela Hantuchova	6-4, 6-2
2	Kristina Mladenovic	Jelena Ostapenko	6-4, 7-5
2	Zarina Diyas	Aliaksandra Sasnovich	7-5, 6-1
2	Sloane Stephens	Lauren Davis	6-4, 6-4

Day 3 Recap

Djokovic received some help from the draw, as it placed Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in the opposite half. It wasn't all good news, however, because potential hurdles still filled his path to the final.

He was forced to take on Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 33rd-ranked player in the world, in Round 1, and he had to face another dangerous veteran in Jarkko Nieminen on Wednesday. He advanced through both of those early tests without dropping a set.

Afterward, Greg Garber of ESPN.com noted Djokovic is still searching for top form after a lackluster start against Nieminen, though.

"I managed to regroup and play some good tennis," Djokovic said. "I [played] just very solid. I'm getting into form as the tournament progresses. Hopefully I'll be able to raise my level as I move forward."

Stan Wawrinka, who won the French Open last month, continued to play high-quality tennis as he cruised past Victor Estrella Burgos in straights. He's not garnering as much attention as the sport's other marquee names, but he's a legitimate threat on the biggest stages.

Another player to keep an eye on is Marin Cilic. His results in Grand Slam events over the years qualify as enigmatic. But the conditions favor his power game, and the exit of Nishikori opens up his portion of the draw.

A good test against John Isner awaits him, especially in terms of fitness, after Cilic survived a five-set battle with Ricardas Berankis. He's had good success against the American, though, as Jonathan Kelley of On The Rise Tennis pointed out:

Elsewhere in Milos Raonic's section of the draw, all of the seeds held into the third round, which creates some outstanding matchups. Raonic will battle Australian rising star Nick Kyrgios, while Grigor Dimitrov will take on Richard Gasquet.

On the women's side, Williams once again failed to play her best tennis in the first set but managed to advance past Babos without any real drama. That's an improvement from Paris, where she was forced to a third set in five of seven matches en route to the title.

Along with keeping her chances of winning the calendar Grand Slam alive, winning Wimbledon would also allow her to hold all four majors at once. So there's a lot on the line, but she's playing without any sign of the pressure holding her back.

Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian provided the 20-time major champion's comments about the state of her game through two rounds.

"I'm definitely playing well, which I never say," Williams said. "I had two really tough matches straight off the bat so I had to pick up my game. She has such a good serve. I really had no option but to play well so far."

If Serena and Venus Williams both win their next matches, the sisters will face each other in the fourth round. Now there's some intrigue for a tournament that's often lacked it so far.

The biggest departure from the women's draw was Ivanovic. It doesn't qualify as a surprise anymore when she's knocked out of a Grand Slam early despite usually entering as a top-10 seed. It's her third straight year losing in Wimbledon's second round.

Full credit goes to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who took advantage of the Serbian's latest lackluster showing. She's a feisty player who was willing to outwork a more talented opponent.

Courtney Nguyen of SI Tennis highlighted one possible reason for Ivanovic's loss:

Maria Sharapova and Lucie Safarova were the other top-10 seeds to advance on Wednesday.

Looking ahead to Day 4, the star-studded half of the men's draw is in action again. Federer, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, goes up against Sam Querrey. Murray takes on Robin Haase, and Nadal faces off with Dustin Brown.

Reigning champion Petra Kvitova, who's probably the biggest threat to Williams' Grand Slam hopes in this event, headlines the women's action. Caroline Wozniacki, Ekaterina Makarova and Madison Keys are also slated to play their second-round matches.

All told, the intensity is about to pick up at the All England Club. If not on Thursday, then definitely when the third round gets underway on Friday.