Wimbledon: No. 1 Serena Williams Beats No. 16 Maria Sharapova In Straight Sets, Moves Into Quarterfinals

No. 1 Serena Williams beat No. 16 Maria Sharapova 7-6(9), 6-4 in a marquee fourth round match on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The story in the second set was the serve. Serena’s serve was absolutely unflappable, never facing a break point. Sharapova served relatively well as well, but a couple ill-timed double faults in the third game of the set helped Serena secure the one break she needed on what was the only break point either player had in the second set.

Serena moves on, but Sharapova has a lot of positives to take away from the loss. Her serve held up better than it has in the past year or so, and she effectively matched Serena’s power and depth off the ground. If she had just been able to convert one of those three set points she had in the first frame, this would have been an entirely different match.

Serena next faces No. 9 Li Na in what is sure to be a tricky quarterfinal. The winner of that match gets what should be an absolute cupcake in the semifinal vs. the winner of Kaia Kanepi vs. Petra Kvitova.