Serena Williams played with the unrelenting urgency of a woman who had a prior engagement and no interest in staying on Centre Court for a moment longer than was strictly necessary, beating Timea Babos in 59 minutes to set up a third-round match against Britain’s Heather Watson on Friday.
The world No1 was brutally professional in her 6-4, 6-1 win over Babos, breaking the Hungarian early in both sets and making sure that an upset was never on the cards. Babos, the world No93, occasionally lobbed a few boulders over the net to keep Williams on her toes, yet knew that she was always fighting a losing battle.