Media playback is not supported on this device Wimbledon 2018: 'Superb hitting from Serena' through to fourth round - best shots
Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online.
Serena Williams passed her first proper test with style by beating France's Kristina Mladenovic to reach the Wimbledon fourth round.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion, on a comeback after giving birth, went a break down against the former top-10 player but won 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
While the women's seeds have been tumbling early here, Williams has advanced without dropping a set.
She faces fellow mum and world number 120 Evgeniya Rodina of Russia next.
Stars aligning for Serena
With eight of the top 10 women's seeds now out, the road for former world number one Williams to win an eighth Wimbledon singles title is looking ever clearer.
Not that she sees it that way.
"I think a lot of the top players are losing, but they're losing to girls that are playing outstanding," she said. "I think, 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."
But then so is Williams, who has showed gradual improvement over the three matches she has played here.
In her first-round victory over Arantxa Rus, the American was laboured at times in gusty conditions, while against Viktoriya Tomova she moved around the court much better and overpowered her with her winners and improved serving.
Against Mladenovic she showed she could dig herself out of difficulty if necessary - winning four games in a row when 5-3 down to take the first set.
She carried on where she left off in the second set to go an early break up before the world number 62 broke back. The Frenchwoman went on to save a match point to force a tie-break.
But Williams found a new gear in the tie-break and sealed her 17th Wimbledon win in a row with her 13th ace.
By reaching the fourth round, Williams has matched her showing at last month's French Open, which was her first Grand Slam tournament since having her daughter last September.
The 36-year-old could have gone further there but pulled out of her last-16 match with Maria Sharapova with an injury.
"Just getting to the round of 16 twice is not bad. Hopefully I can do a little bit better," she said.
"I don't have anything to lose. I have absolutely nothing to prove. Yeah, everything is a bonus. Every time I step out there, I know what I'm capable of. I know every Grand Slam, I've won them, I'm capable of just going out there and enjoying it."
As the oldest woman left in the draw, after her 38-year-old sister Venus was knocked out on Friday, Williams is still leaving the younger players like 25-year-old Mladenovic behind.
And despite her seeding of 25, and her world ranking of 181, she is looking every bit the player to beat.
Media playback is not supported on this device Johnny Depp-ish, a German Prince, G.O.A.Ts and day five funnies
Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online.
There were more shock exits in the women's singles draw on day five at Wimbledon.
But elsewhere Nick Kyrgios still grabbed the headlines, Roger Federer and Serena Williams continued to dominate on Centre Court and there was a three-day, five-hour, five-set thriller involving two Britons in the men's doubles.
Here are five things from Wimbledon day five.
Federer sweeps aside Struff
Media playback is not supported on this device Roger Federer delivers a stunning backhand against Jan-Lennard Struff
Top seed Federer was flawless yet again.
Whatever Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff threw at him, he had an answer and it was in typically emphatic fashion that he made it through to round four with a 6-3 7-5 6-2 win on Centre Court.
The defending champion needed just one hour and 34 minutes to win - a much easier ride than his next opponent Adrian Mannarino, who had to come from behind in the fifth set to make it through to the last 16.
The Swiss has still not even dropped a set at Wimbledon this year - extending his winning streak to 29 in a row - and he looks full of energy.
Venus the latest star to fall
Media playback is not supported on this device Venus Williams is the latest top seed out of the tournament
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was the biggest casualty on another tough day for the seeded players.
Eight of the top 10 seeds in the women's singles have now failed to make it through to the last 16.
"Some of it is players not having a plan B, or plan C," former Australian Open semi-finalist Chanda Rubin told BBC Sport.
"You have to somehow find a way to win on those days when you are not at your best and some of the top players just haven't been able to do that."
Ninth seed Williams, 38, was beaten 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 8-6 by 26-year-old Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.
Williams' fellow American Madison Keys, 23, also exited after an erratic 7-5 5-7 6-4 loss to Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina who is ranked 120th in the world.
Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu fought back the tears as she lost 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 to Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova.
Russian Ekaterina Makarova, Germany's Julia Goerges and Donna Vekic of Croatia all progressed.
Serena improves again in third showing
Media playback is not supported on this device Wimbledon 2018: 'Superb hitting from Serena' through to fourth round - best shots
While many around her are falling, Serena Williams is only growing in stature.
She came through her first proper test against France's Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 7-6 (7-2) despite going a break down in the first set.
The 23-time Grand Slam champions still hasn't dropped a set and with eight of the top 10 women's seeds now out, the road is clearing rapidly towards an eighth Wimbledon title.
"Just getting to the round of 16 twice is not bad. Hopefully I can do a little bit better," she said. "I don't have anything to lose. I have absolutely nothing to prove."
Britons come out on wrong side of 42-game final set
Cameron Norrie and Jay Clarke were playing together at a Grand Slam for the first time
With only one home player left in action in the singles draws, attentions turned to the doubles, where eight Britons made it through.
Jay Clarke and Cameron Norrie did not but they were involved in an epic five-hour battle on court 14 against first-round opponents Marcelo Arevalo and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo.
The match began on Wednesday and was suspended with the Britons 3-2 up in the first set because of rain. It resumed on Thursday but bad light forced another stoppage with Clarke and Norrie two sets to one up and leading 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 4-3.
Arevalo and Podlipnik-Castillo bounced back to take the fourth set 6-4 on Friday. The players tussled back and forth in the fifth and final set, before Clarke and Norrie lost it 22-20 in front of a highly entertained crowd.
It was the first time the two Britons were playing together at a Grand Slam after they were handed a wildcard to compete in the men's doubles - and it was certainly a match to remember.
Kyrgios at the centre of it all again
Kyrgios has already caused controversy at this year's Wimbledon championships and he did so again on Friday without even lifting a racquet.
After getting caught up in two exchanges with umpire James Keothavong on Thursday, receiving a code violation for inappropriate language, the Australian 15th seed has now caused further sparks with his social media use.
He went on Instagram to respond to criticism from 2013 champion Marion Bartoli after she said he was "childish" and lacks "work ethic" on Radio 5 live on Thursday.
Kyrgios asked Bartoli to "stop assuming you know what's best for others" in a lengthy post which he signed off with the words: "we don't care what you have to say".
He faces Japan's Kei Nishikori in the third match on Court One on Saturday.
If anyone doubted Serena Williams was worth consideration as a winner of this tournament for an eighth time – let alone the 25th seeding that has caused a minor stir in the locker room – she provided the most emphatic statement of intent with her third straight-sets win of the week to reach the fourth round on a wave of growing self-belief.
“It’s going pretty well,” she said courtside with staggering understatement after beating the accomplished French player Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-6 (2) in front of a Centre Court audience who had come to soak up the sun and the American’s glowing brilliance on Friday afternoon.
Venus Williams out of Wimbledon after defeat to Kiki Bertens Read more
“I worked really, really hard. It’s been a long, arduous road. But I always expect to do the best I can do. Every opponent is playing her A game, as we’ve seen in this tournament. So many top players have lost – and technically I’m not a top player.”
Williams is allowed to say that in mock self-deprecation. Others will see it as nonsense, whatever the seedings say. The draw has opened up like the Red Sea on her side and she next meets the 29-year-old Russian Evgeniya Rodina, who played way above her 120 world ranking when she joined the Wimbledon giant-killers by putting out the 10th seed and US Open runner‑up Madison Keys 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes on No 3 Court.
Keys was the seventh of the top 10 seeds to lose before the middle Sunday, followed by Venus Williams shortly afterwards, testimony to the strength of the women’s game or confirmation of Johanna Konta’s contention after her defeat against Dominika Cibulkova the previous evening that the seedings do not necessarily reflect the quality of the opponent?
Williams had to fight for her win, though. She began nervously, saving two break points, and cracked in the fifth game as Mladenovic powered through her serve for an early lead.
Struggling to stay in the set after half an hour, Williams found her huge serve just in time to hang on for 4-5. The pressure switched across the net as Mladenovic sought to seal the deal, but her first unforced error of the match, a dumped backhand as she twisted her right ankle, preceded her second, an overcooked forehand – and they were back on level terms. That turned ankle was also the turning point of the match. Williams held without fuss and, after holding three set points, then another after deuce, broke when Mladenovic strove for an ace down the middle and double-faulted.
Play Video 2:46 Wimbledon day five highlights: Federer and Monfils dazzle and Serena Williams wins again – video
Four games into the second set, Mladenovic was hanging on desperately to her serve and Williams had the familiar air of queen of Wimbledon, where she has won seven singles titles, most recently two years ago before taking most of 2017 off for the arrival of her first child in September.
They traded breaks mid-set and Mladenovic did well to hold from 15-40 in the 10th game – just seven points from going out of the tournament. Williams struck her 10th and 11th aces to hold, and Mladenovic was under the cosh again. Two exquisite winners gave her hope of survival but two double faults betrayed her nerves. This would have been a wretched way to leave and she managed to force an error on the backhand from Williams to reach deuce.
A delightfully switched drop shot out of the reach of her opponent got her to within a point of safety, but her serving hand trembled again as Williams grabbed her first match point. Again, the French player survived and a solid serve down the middle forced the tie-break.
The shootout was made for Williams, the greatest server in the business. She raced to 4-0 before an errant forehand gave Mladenovic a sliver of encouragement, but there was nothing she could do about an explosive cross-court backhand on the run, and they crossed at 5-1 to Williams. Another ace, her 12th, gave her match point and a 13th the match.
Her reappearance here has invested the tournament with much of its old majesty. She is 36 and, against all odds, approaching the level that has brought her 23 grand slam titles, one short of the all-time record held by Margaret Court. Kim Clijsters took three tournaments to get back to winning a major after giving birth to her first child. Williams is moving and hitting as if she could do it at the first attempt. She truly is a wonder.
