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Serena Williams Beats Viktoriya Tomova in Straight Sets at Wimbledon 2018
July 4, 2018
Serena Williams powered her way to a straight-sets victory over Viktoriya Tomova, 6-1, 6-4, in the second round at Wimbledon 2018 on Wednesday.
Williams, who is aiming for an eighth title at Wimbledon but hasn't played in the tournament since 2016, made quick work of the first set on Centre Court but had to work a bit harder to win the second.
Williams blasted into a 1-0 lead on serve but wasted the chance to break in the next game. It was a waste because Tomova appeared to lack power on her first serve, giving her illustrious opponents plenty of opportunities to attack it.
A routine hold of serve gave Williams another chance to earn the first break in the next game, which she seized before another hold gave her a 4-1 lead and command of the set:
The extent of Williams' dominance was underlined when she set up two set points in just over 20 minutes. She secured the second of those to close out the first set in emphatic fashion.
Not even winning the first game of the second set offered Tomova much of a reprieve, as Williams soon went a break up for a 2-1 lead as the dominance continued:
Tomova had the chance to make things interesting, but the Bulgarian qualifier missed the chance to claim a break point, allowing Williams to serve out for a 3-1 advantage.
There just wasn't enough power in any of Tomova's strokes to test Williams' range of movement. Instead, the latter was able to send her opponent scurrying back and forth across the baseline with a range of typically formidable shots.
Yet for all her troubles, Tomova produced a timely hold of serve to stay in it. However, order was soon restored when Williams countered a telegraphed drop shot at the net to restore her two-game lead.
To her credit, Tomova battled back to close the gap on serve. The 23-year-old then saved a break point brilliantly to put pressure on the seven-time champion to serve out the match.
Williams duly did to seal safe passage to Round 3. It leaves the rest of the draw looking good for the 36-year-old:
There's no doubt she will face tougher tests, but Williams has at least done what was expected and avoided upset against opponents she should beat in her first Wimbledon matches in two years.