Serena Williams’ gentle walk through the Wimbledon draw continued on Monday with a 6-2, 6-2 destruction of Evgeniya Rodina.
It was yet another easy win for the 36-year-old, who progresses to the quarter-finals without having dropped a set or faced a serious challenge.
The risk is that she has arrived to this stage under-cooked and that she may have benefited from a harder examination in her first four rounds. But increasingly the feeling is that the 25th seed is the player to beat in a women’s draw shorn of every one of the top 10 seeds.
That favourite status has typically accompanied her in most tournaments she has contested across the past two decades, but a win here would be extraordinary, given this is only the second Slam she has contested since the 2017 Australian Open, which she won while pregnant.
Now it appears a realistic possibility, assuming she has not flattered to deceive against such a compliant set of opponents. Indeed, in the first four rounds, the cumulative tally of the rankings of those she has faced is 422. For that reason it is hard to be overly conclusive at this point in the run.
But still she is crushing those in front of her, even with the evident rustiness in her movement and strokes.
That was never going to count against her in this match against the world No 120, a qualifier who was appearing in the last 16 of a Slam for the first time.
Having opened with a hold, Williams broke the Rodina serve at the very first opportunity for 2-0 and then held again for 3-0. All inside eight minutes.
Rodina got herself on the board in the next game and even managed a break point at 4-2 down. But the disparity between them was obvious, with Williams reeling off a service winner, and two backhand winners to take the next three points and the game. That was the difference – she had extra gears and Rodina had no such luxury.
The Russian gave up the set 6-2 by double faulting at 0-40 in the next game and her limp to the chair, coupled with the significant strapping on her left thigh and right knee, indicated she might not go the distance.
But she hobbled on and continued to take a beating. She was broken to 30 to go 2-0 down in the second and fell behind to back-to-back Williams aces for 3-0.
The resistance came at 3-1 when Rodina forced a break point and converted with a rifled forehand up the line for 3-2, but she was promptly broken back to love. Again, those extra gears.
A Rodina backhand wide at 30-40 and 2-5 gave Williams the match.