SERENA WILLIAMS booked her spot in the Wimbledon Round of 16 Saturday, defeating German opponent Julia Gorges in just two sets.

Williams only needed half an hour to take the first set 6-3, and dispatched Gorges in the second set 6-4 in 42 minutes.

Williams began the match on a strong note, but simple errors caused the 11th seed to concede three break points in the second game, with Gorges hanging on until the sixth game of the first set before Williams finally broke her serve.

The two traded points up until the fifth game of the second set, when Williams was able to get the better of the 18th-seeded Gorges thanks to a misfired shot.

Williams will face Carla Suarez Navarro in the fourth round.

Meanwhile, eight-time champion Roger Federer of Switzerland and two-time champion Rafael Nadal of Spain fended off their respective opponent Saturday.

The 37-year-old Swiss ousted Lucas Pouille of France 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to claim his 350th victory in a Grand Slam, becoming the player of either gender to register the most Grand Slam wins in history.

Federer will face No. 17 seed Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round after the Italian outperformed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a grueling match.

Second-seeded Nadal had an easy 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France to make his ninth fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon. His opponent will be unseeded Joao Sousa, who needed five sets to defeat Dan Evans of Britain 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to become the first Portuguese to make the fourth round at the championship.

“He’s a super dangerous opponent against everybody. He is very quick, has a very good physical performance,” Nadal commented on Sousa.

(SD-Xinhua)