London: With the draw opening up in front of her, seven-time champion Serena Williams moved ominously into the last 16 at Wimbledon when she recovered from a sluggish start to beat France's Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-6(1) on Friday.
She may be nearing 37 and ranked an almost laughable 181st in the world as she returns from maternity leave, but make no mistake, the American is back in the groove and has her eyes locked firmly on the title.
In her first Grand Slam back, after missing the previous four, she reached the last 16 at the French Open but pulled out with a pectoral injury before her match against Maria Sharapova.
A few weeks on and with her game beginning to click smoothly into place, sport's most decorated mum suddenly looks like the one to beat in a women's tournament full of upsets.
Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina is her next hurdle and with no seeds left in her quarter of the draw 25th-seed Serena appears to have an open door to the semifinals.
At almost the same time Serena was finishing off Mladenovic on Centre Court, sister Venus was losing over on Court One, meaning only two of the top-10 seeds remain.
But Serena was not getting ahead of herself.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I haven't had any problems yet. I think a lot of the top players are losing, but they're losing to girls that are playing outstanding," she said.
"If anything, it shows me every moment that I can't underestimate any of these ladies. They are just going out there swinging and playing for broke."
Few players in the history of women's tennis have gone for broke quite like Serena.
Mladenovic appeared to have her in trouble when she led 5-3 in the first set but it provoked a furious response as Serena upped the mph on her serve and began striking groundstrokes with menace to reel off six consecutive games.
To her credit Mladenovic, who reached the top 10 last year but has slipped back, dug in to take a compelling second set into a tiebreak. Serena was in no mood to waste energy on a piping hot day, though, and ran away with the breaker, winning the match with her 12th and 13th aces.
Her last defeat at Wimbledon came against Alize Cornet in 2014 and she has now won 17 consecutive matches on the All England Club grass, a run interrupted last year when, heavily pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia, she missed the tournament.
There was no great escape for Venus as the five-time champion was beaten 6-2 6-7(5) 8-6 in a pulsating third-round match by Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.
Easy for Federer
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer advanced to the last 16 without dropping a set after a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over German Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday.
Federer, seeking a record ninth Wimbledon title, eased through the first set before the big-serving Struff put up more of a fight in the second.
But Federer clinched it with a superb service game that included a wonderful volley at the end of a long rally followed by a winning drive down the line.
The 36-year-old Swiss proceeded to win his 29th consecutive set at the All England Club and wrap up victory on Centre Court with an ace on his first match point in just over one and a half hours.
"Against big servers who go for a lot it's always difficult to find rhythm and be sure that you are in driver's seat until the match is over," Federer said after his 175th grasscourt win.
"I was happy to stay calm and finish off the job. I thought I did very well today. I created more chances in the second set and was always able to stay pretty clean on my own service game.
"It's a wonderful feeling walking out there, I take every match one at a time, I try to put on a good match, try hard every time, and will never underestimate anybody - that keeps me in check."
