But for the second round in succession, the four-time winner eased through the next set to book her place in the third round.

After being taken to a first-set tie-break by Naomi Cavaday on Tuesday, Williams had to save nine break points in the first set before beating British number one Anne Keothavong 7-5 6-2 on Centre Court.

"Anne played really well, she hit a lot of deep shots and some smart serves," Williams told BBC1.

"If she can play this well, she definitely has a future in the game.

"I think I lost a bit of focus after I made some errors but I got it back, thankfully."