Defending champion Petra Kvitova eased into round four with a 6-1 6-0 victory over American Varvara Lepchenko at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Fourth seed Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, won in 48 minutes and will next play Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.

Serbia’s Anna Ivanovic, the 14th seed, beat Julia Goerges of Germany 3-6 6-3 6-4 and will meet either second seed Victoria Azarenka or Jana Cepelova.

Four-time champion Serena Williams is in action against Zheng Jie on Centre.
“I feel better every match that I’m playing here,” said 22-year-old Kvitova, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

“I like to play on the grass at Wimbledon, the last two years I played so well here and I had a great result.”

Kvitova, who has lost just 13 games in three matches, hit 15 winners, her powerful play forcing her opponent into 38 errors.

“Francesca can play very well on the grass with a good slice from the backhand. We played twice already this year on clay and hard court so we’re just missing the grass, so it’s time for this,” said Kvitova of her Italian opponent, who beat Klara Zakopalova 6-0 6-4.

“I think she can play very well, she has a good volley, so I think she will play aggressively going to the net.”

There was a first at Wimbledon as Kazakh wildcard Yaroslava Shvedova made history by achieving a golden set against French Open finalist Sara Errani . The 10th seed failed to win a point in the first set and eventually fell 6-0 6-4.

Austria’s Tamira Paszek , who defeated former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the first round, also progressed with a 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 win over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.

Bhupathi-Sania crash out of Wimbledon
 French Open champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza crashed out of the Wimbledon with a crushing straight-set defeat to Australian P Hanley and Russia’s A Kudryavtseva in the second round of the mixed doubles competition on Saturday.

The fifth seeded Indian combo, who had clinched their second Grand Slam title together earlier this month, suffered a 3-6, 1-6 defeat to the unseeded pair in a 50-minute match at the All England Club.

The Australian-Russian combo sent down six aces and also broke the Indian pair four times out of the seven chances that came their way.

In comparison, Sania and Bhupathi failed to create any opportunity and also had three double faults and four unforced errors.

The Indians, who would not be playing together in next month’s London Olympics after the All India Tennis Association (AITA) paired Sania with Leander Paes in mixed doubles, were better than their rivals in their first serve but they failed miserably in the second in the opening set.

In the second set, Sania and Bhupathi looked lacklustre as Hanley and Kudryavtseva sent down four aces and pushed the Indians to commit unforced errors and sealed the match comfortably.
The winners also broke the Indians thrice out of the six chances in the second set.

Shvedova’s historic Golden Set helps sink Errani
LONDON, Jun 30 (AFP): Yaroslava Shvedova completed the first Golden Set in Grand Slam history as the Kazakh wildcard won all 24 points and conceded none in a 6-0 first set whitewash en route to defeating French Open runner-up Sara Errani in the Wimbledon third round on Saturday.

Shvedova, the world number 65, hit 14 winners and took just 15 minutes to demolish Italian 10th seed Errani in an incredible first set on Court Three.

The 24-year-old, the Wimbledon doubles champion in 2010 and twice a French Open quarterfinalist, couldn’t dominate quite so emphatically in the second set.

But she still landed the decisive break to secure a 6-0, 6-4 victory in 57 minutes. Shvedova became the first qualifier to defeat a Grand Slam defending champion when she shocked China’s Li Na at the recent French Open.

Now she has made another piece of history and will face four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams or China’s Zheng Jie for a place in the last eight.