Serena Williams Beats Kristina Mladenovic, Advances to Round 4 at 2018 Wimbledon

Serena Williams battled into the fourth round at Wimbledon on Friday as she eventually overcame Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-6 (2) in a tight contest on Centre Court.

Williams, seeded 25th at the championship, won four successive games at 5-3 down in the first set to eventually take the opener, with Mladenovic missing the chance to serve for the set after fine work early on.

The second set proved to be an even encounter, as both players served expertly. But yet again, it was the 23-time Grand Slam champion who showed her steely nerve in the clutch moments, turning on the style to win the tiebreak by a comfortable margin.

Next up for Williams—a seven-time champion at SW19—is a meeting with world No. 120 Evgeniya Rodina, who shocked 10th seed Madison Keys earlier in the day.

 Given the number of seeded players who have already been eliminated in the women's draw so far, those lucky enough to be in attendance on Centre Court would have been expecting a fast start from Williams.

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But it was the Frenchwoman who had the better of the exchanges early on, and after four games were shared on serve, she struck. A backhand passing shot set up Mladenovic for three break points, and she converted on the second to take the early advantage.

Another solid service game from Mladenovic followed, allowing her to go 4-2 clear. Williams then settled back into her groove but was unable to find a way past her opponent's serve until late in the set.

The Frenchwoman was serving for the opening stanza at 5-4 up, but a combination of nerves and an awkward landing cost her, as Williams levelled up the set at 5-5.

Per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, Mladenovic suddenly wasn't looking comfortable:

That prompted a major swing in momentum, with Williams holding and then putting more pressure on Mladenovic's serve as the set was up for grabs. In the end, the seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed, as her opponent served a double fault for the first time on the fourth set point.

At the end of the opening set, Fox Sports' Greg Tepper put the performance of Williams into context:

Despite that setback, Mladenovic showed her character at the start of the second set, digging deep to withstand an early barrage from Williams to keep the contest on serve.

While both players did threaten to break at times, they were each able to keep their cool with the ball in hand, with Williams saving a break point to move 5-4 up.

Then Mladenovic stayed composed in the next game on some nervy deuce points, per Live Tennis:

After Williams served to go 6-5, the focus fell on Mladenovic as the 36-year-old was all over her serve and fashioned a match point. The underdog was able to save it, though, giving herself a chance of staying in the clash in a tiebreak.

Unfortunately for Mladenovic, Williams went up a gear at this stage. The veteran produced her best tennis of the day to go 4-0 up and eventually saw out the tiebreak 7-2 to win the match.