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| TRIPLE DELIGHT: Serena Williams beat Annika Beck to set up a date with Svetlana Kuznetsova. Image by: GETTY IMAGES |
Serena Williams clinched her 300th grand slam victory as the defending champion raced into the Wimbledon fourth round with a 6-3 6-0 demolition of Germany's Annika Beck yesterday.
Williams's triple century moved the world No1 above Chris Evert into sole ownership of second place in the all-time list, with only Martina Navratilova's Open era record of 306 ahead of her.
The 34-year-old has won 82 matches at Wimbledon as she remains on course to equal Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 grand slam titles with her seventh Wimbledon crown.
Williams was in peak form on centre court, hitting 25 winners and seven aces as she took just 51 minutes to set up a last-16 clash with the 13th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
Kuznetsova yesterday shrugged off a code violation for on-court coaching as she produced a stirring comeback to reach the fourth round for the first time in eight years with a 6-7 (1) 6-2 8-6 win over American Sloane Stephens.
After Stephens had taken a 2-1 lead in the deciding set, the Russian lost her temper with umpire Marijana Veljovic when the Serbian official accused Kuznetsova of receiving illegal coaching from Carlos Martinez, who was sitting in the players' box.
"I bet you all my prize money he didn't say anything," Kuznetsova yelled.
The exchange continued well into the change of ends, with the 13th seed declaring: "You're not doing well."
The distraction appeared to have completely thrown Kuznetsova off her stride as she allowed Stephens, seeded 18th, to take a 5-2 lead.
But just when it seemed as if the controversy would cost her dearly, Kuznetsova produced the kind of form that carried her to two grand slam titles and booked a last-16 showdown with defending champion Williams.
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