World number one Serena Williams rallied from a one-set deficit to prevail in a nail-biting second round match against fellow American Christina McHale at the Wimbledon Championships. The top seed won 6-7 6-2 6-4 on Centre Court.
It turned out to be an intricate day in the office for Serena who squandered as many as 14 break point opportunities and overcame 40 unforced errors to pip some resolute piece of tennis from McHale. The battle lasted two hours and 29 minutes.
McHale went neck-to-neck with Serena as she took an early lead via tiebreaker. Serena, however, rode on her supreme experience by converting two break points to bag the second set. The decider, then, appeared well on its way for a promising climax.
At 4-4, however, Serena acquired a crucial break before consolidating her service game with an ace, thereby managing to keep the upset bug at bay.
She, now, moves on to square-off against Germany’s Annika Beck for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.
Elsewhere, the elder Williams, Venus, the No. 8 seed, also prevailed in a marathon encounter over 29th seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia. The American pulled off a 7-5 4-6 10-8 in an exhausting encounter that went on for two hours and 41 minutes.
