That was brilliant from Serena and it looks like she hasn’t even broken sweat. She was in control throughout the match against what could’ve been a dangerous opponent. She will be hard to stop. Good luck Heather Watson, you are going to need it, by the bucket full. That’s all from me, folks. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Bye!
Updated
Second set: Williams 6-4, 6-1 Babos* (*denotes server)
Babos is serving to stay in the match. She has the look of one very frustrated player. She gets off to the worst possible start by double faulting. Things don’t get much better on the next one as she places a forehand into the net from a tight angle. Serena’s return on the next one has too much power and there is nothing Babos can do with it. Serena has three match points. She only needs one.
Second set: Williams* 6-4, 5-1 Babos (*denotes server)
Tis only a matter of time.
Second set: Williams 6-4, 4-1 Babos* (*denotes server)
How quickly these things change? In the last game, Babos had two break points and looked to be getting back into it. Now, she has just lost 8 points in a row and been broken. Deary me.
Updated
Second set: Williams* 6-4, 3-1 Babos (*denotes server)
A quick sit down and a dose of water and the players are back out on Centre Court. Serena gets going with a fault and it is Babos who takes the early lead, placing a fantastic forehand down the line. Babos doubles that lead via a double fault from Serena. An ace halves the deficit but Babos gets a break point. Can she? Serena smacks her first serve down but it brushed the net along the way. An over-hit forehand from Babos means she fails to take that break point. No worries. She has another. But Serena ain’t having it. She aces to make it deuce and shouts “come on!”. Serena then takes advantage and the game with another ace. What a comeback.
Second set: Williams 6-4, 2-1 Babos* (*denotes server)
Hope, cruel hope.
Second set: Williams* 6-4, 2-0 Babos (*denotes server)
Babos has the temerity to challenge Serena’s forehand. She is taught a lesson in power and precision and intensity. Serena takes this one easily enough.
Updated
Second set: Williams 6-4, 1-0 Babos* (*denotes server)
And we are back for the second set. Babos needs to hold this if she wants to stay in this competition for any length of time. She starts badly and it gets worse. Within seconds Serena is 0-30 to the good. She screams at herself and it seems to get her going. 15-30. The next point sees them rally and Babos come out on top via an out-stretched forehand that once again sees luck on her side – It landed just on the line. After some confusion on a late call, Serena has a break point. She powers a return back to Babos, which the Hungarian can only overhit. Babos is broken.
Updated
First set: Williams* 6-4 Babos (*denotes server)
Serena serves for the opening set. The world No1 returns long on the first point but not too long and the luck is on Babos’ side. She hits the net and the ball bounces on the line – just! – with Serena unable to do anything about it. She has a motivational chat with herself and it’s soon 15-15. Then it’s 30-30. This is a big point for both players. Serena has too much power in her serve for Babos to return. 40-30. Set point it is. A set point she takes.
Updated
First set: Williams 5-4 Babos* (*denotes server)
Babos is serving to stay in the first set. She starts well and takes the first point. Serena hits a wild one on the next point and looks rather angry with herself. A stunner of an ace means Babos has a 40-0 lead. Serena is looking even angrier now. She also won’t be happy with the fact that she has overdone her return and it’s a love game to Babos.
Updated
First set: Williams* 5-3 Babos (*denotes server)
Babos overcooks her first return and it’s first blood to Serena. It’s also second blood. And third. And fourth.
First set: Williams 4-3 Babos* (*denotes server)
Babos uses her serve to force Serena into a mistake and make it 15-0. It is soon 30-0 but a double fault halves her lead. She kicks the ball away in frustration. One thing to note about Babos, she is going big on her second serve. Very big. While that was being typed, she won two more points - the second one of which was an impeccably hit drop to the corner that confused the world No1 – and the game.
First set: Williams* 4-2 Babos (*denotes server)
Oh. My. She starts with an ace that hit harder than steel. She then gets another. She is forced to a second serve on her third one and Babos comes away with the point. Her proposed comeback does not last long. Serena volleys her way to 40-15 and then brings up her third ace of the game.
So this is interesting:
No.7 seed Ana Ivanovic is out. The Serb falls 6-3, 6-4 to qualifier @BMATTEK #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/n0A2V90UV6
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2015
First set: Williams 3-2 Babos* (*denotes server)
“Evening Ian,” cheers Simon McMahon. “Hope the servers are better. Being a work shy slacker myself, I’ve heard, and used, some excuses in my time, but this is right up there with ‘the wrong type of snow’, ‘the dog ate my homework’ and ‘having a wide stance when going to the bathroom’. Next you’ll be telling us that, on the hottest day of the year, the entire Guardian staff were actually hiking the Appalachian trail.” Back in the game, Babos wins the first point and Serena gives her another one to go with it by – again! – hitting the net from close range. However, the Hungarian slips when returning the next one, the result being a shot that was well wide. Second later, Serena makes it 30-30. Babos forces her wide on the next piece of action and Serena responds by putting her return over the line. Babos, eventually, wins it.
First set: Williams* 3-1 Babos (*denotes server)
Serena looks like she hasn’t broken sweat yet, which is more than what you can say for the crowd. Lots of red faces there. The first point goes to Babos after Serena put one into the net from close range. Silly mistake that. Some nifty footwork allows her to draw level, however. Babos does one towards row Z so it is now 30-15 to Serena. The American pulls out another ace – at 105mph – to make 40-15. Babos earns another point but nothing can stop Serena from taking the game. She whispers “come on” to herself once the game is done.
First set: Williams 2-1 Babos* (*denotes server)
Babos starts with an ace. (She really is a good server of the ball.) She doubles her lead before forcing Serena to hit long on the forehand. 40-0 it is. Can she win her first game of this match? She sure can but not before Serena made it 40-15 with another wonderful cross-court forehand.
First set: Williams* 2-0 Babos (*denotes server)
Babos is breathing hard. It could be the heat, it could be the nerves. Nonetheless, she takes the first point. Serena aces to draw level. For the next one, Babos moves Serena around the court and the American fails with an attempted lob that lands the wrong side of the white lines. But, once more, she draws level and then takes the lead before winning the game thanks to an unforced error from Babos.
First set: Williams 1-0 Babos* (*denotes server)
Babos is out on the court before Serena. The latter takes her time but Babos takes no time in getting into the match. She aces the first serve. She soon makes it 30-0. The next time point takes a bit more time to come to its conclusion but it ends with a decent cross-court forehand from Serena that Babos cannot reach. Ah here. Babos throws away her lead by double faulting and suddenly Serena has a break point. A break point which she absolutely shanks, after a terrific serve from Babos. Deuce it is. Serena wrong-foots her and places one in the corner to take advantage. The next point sees Serena volley too hard – can you volley to hard? – and Babos just places puts one int he corner. Back to deuce and back to advantage Serena. She finally takes the game after a longish rally and an over-hit forehand from Babos.
Here we go ...
Tok, tok, tok. The players are out on the court and rallying.
In case you are wondering, yes there has been a bit of lull in the Guardian’s coverage of Wimbledon today. Tots soz about that folks. It seems the nerds in the tech department were not able to keep the reins on the server who decided to head off to the London Fields Lido for the afternoon. It’s back now, hair wet and a with a refreshed – if somewhat redder – face. Again, our utmost apologies.
Good evening to you and you and you
And welcome to Serena Williams’ crushing defeat of Timea Babos. Sorry Babos fans, really sorry in fact. Do you need a hug? Would an ice-cream make you feel better? Here, blow that nose and wipe your eyes. Again, apologies for being so direct but it is best you know in advance that this match is merely one for Serena to expend with, much like the boxer must shed roll after roll of sweaty, useless, disgusting flab before they can win the title. OK, OK, Serena is not perfect and there were a few nervy moments in the opening set against Margarita Gasparyan – Gasparyan had a 3-1 lead and even had a break point for 4-1 – but after she missed that forehand, Serena came flying back, eventually crushing the Russian like a tank running over a disused soda can. That win meant Serena is on a 22-matches grand slam winning streak. Let’s just repeat that for emphasis: she is on a 22-matches grand slam winning streak. Zowee! It also means the Compton-raised player is on track for her fourth straight grand slam title after claiming the 2014 US Open, the 2015 Australian Open and the 2015 French Open. As it stands, she is two grand slam titles short of Steffi Graf’s total of 22. “Honestly, I don’t think about it,” she says, but how can someone so driven and so talented and so successful not let their mind wander just a teeny, tiny bit? Anyway, back to Babos for a moment. She is ranked 92 places below Serena but with her big serve and big backhand, as well as her intelligent play around the net, she can cause her enemy for the afternoon to sweat some. It probably is too tall an order for the 22-year-old to actually win but, you know, stranger things have happened*.
* They haven’t.
