Wimbledon: Day 3 and 4 Update

Along with the Sweet Victory for Sabine Lisicki, there have been a number of amazing early round matches at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. Here's a quick overview along with links for full match results:

Venus hit a total of 46 winners
to Date-Krumm's 45.

Venus Survives Thriller
If you didn't see the amazing match between Venus Williams and the ageless Kimiko Date-Krumm, you missed one of the best matches on the women's side. It was incredible to watch both players attack with such drastically different assault tactics—Venus blasting cannons from the baseline while Kimiko moved in for a variety of flawless volleys. In the end, it was Venus who prevailed, striking down the 40-year-old Japanese woman 8-6 in the third.
Final Score: 6-7 (6), 6-3, 8-6

Qualifier, Doi, Stuns Mattek-Sands
America's Bethanie Mattek-Sands is as quirky in her appearance as she is capable of tremendous tennis (for those who don't know what she wears on court, let's say she is VERY quirky), but despite a fantastic 2011 record, she met a tough first round match-up with a qualifier from Japan. The young Misaki Doi dictated play with forehands far too powerful for someone her size. After three sets of grueling rallies, Bethanie was overwhelmed by the young-gun's desire to win.
Final Score: 6-4, 5-7, 7-5

Ivanovic Finds Form
Ana Ivanovic has struggled since plummeting away from her world no.1 ranking, but the beautiful Serbian has shown sparks of brilliance since the end of 2010. Here at Wimbledon, she clobbered her first opponent and did the same in the second round against Eleni Daniilidou. Does Ana have a shot at the crown?
Final Score: 6-3, 6-0

Petrova Pounds Pavlyuchenkova
Unseeded Nadia Petrova is familiar with the big stage, having been highly ranked in the past and making a few deep runs at majors. Since falling off in the world ranking, however, she has had a wide array of questionable losses. Stepping onto the grass court against world no. 14, however, she wasn't going to back down. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could not find her rhythm against her fellow Russian, and fell meekly in straight sets.
Final Score: 6-3 6-3

Serena has won Wimbledon
a total of four times.

Serena Needs Three, Again
Will Serena win Wimbledon this year? If she believes so, she will need to clean up her act a bit. After going the distance in the first round against Rezai, Serena was forced into another third round battle against Simona Halep. What is promising about these two matches, however, is that Serena has shown brilliant play in the final sets, cleaning up her errors and striking winners freely. It will be an interesting tournament for her, no doubt.
Final Score: 3-6, 6-2, 6-1


Full results here: DAY 3 and DAY 4.

Due to rain delays, Wimbledon is still behind in its schedule matches. Look out for more second round matches on Day 5, including Maria Sharapova's match against Laura Robson.

-Kedzie Teller, ITB Senior Editor