Defending champ comes back strongly from a set down to defeat halep and enter round three

Defending champion Serena Williams survived a scare before moving into the third round at Wimbledon with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Romania's Simona Halep yesterday.

Serena has played only three matches since she clinched her fourth Wimbledon title 12 months ago and the American seventh seed is clearly still finding her way back to top form.


USA's Serena Williams during yesterday's second round Wimbledon match
against Romania's Simona Halep in London. Serena won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
PIC/Getty Images

The 29-year-old has had to recover from emergency surgery to remove two blood clots, while also getting over a foot injury sustained by stepping on glass in a German restaurant.

That long lay-off has left some rust and for the second match here, Serena was pushed to three sets by a lower-ranked opponent before finding a way to grind out the victory.

A third round clash against Maria Kirilenko or Tamarine Tanasugarn is Serena's next challenge as she bids for a third successive title.

Halep has enjoyed a rapid rise to 58th in the world rankings since surgery to have her 34DD breasts reduced to a more modest 34C in 2009.

Without the extra weight that caused severe back pain and affected her performance, the Romanian has shot up 450 places in the world rankings.

Important results

Women's singles:

Dominika Cibulkova beat Polona Hercog 6-1, 6-2;

Julia Goerges beat Mathilde Johansson 7-6 (12/10), 6-2;

Ana Ivanovic beat Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 6-0;

Francesca Schiavone beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-5, 6-3;

Tamira Paszek beat Christina McHale 6-4, 6-1