THE rain eventually came but it was a breezy Serena Williams who marched off Court 1 having dispatched her opponent in the sort of brisk style that has become her trademark.

It took the world No.1 just more than an hour to defeat France's Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2 and such is her stature in the sport, this was neither a surprise nor a subject for much discussion.

Williams was left to ruminate on a possible meeting with Andy Murray in Las Vegas which has about as much chance of happening as the American has of being beaten by her next opponent, Kimiko Date-Krumm, who is 42. That's her age, not her world ranking.

Date-Krumm, to be precise will be 42 years and 281 days age at the end of the event and she has become the oldest women to reach the third round at Wimbledon in the open era, following her 6-4, 7-5 victory over Romanian Alexandra Cadantu. The previous oldest player was Britain's Virginia Wade, aged 39 years 362 days, in 1985. It was Wade's 24th and final Wimbledon.

A younger Englishwoman, Laura Robson, has caught the eye of Williams. The 19-year-old's match against Mariano Duque-Marino fell victim to the rain last night but Williams was asked if Robson was a top 10 player in the making. The 16-time grand slam champion replied: " I think she can go further than that."

There is a seeming inevitability about how far Williams can go in the tournament. Only a tank can stop her winning the women' title and even then a Sherman would only be slight odds-on. The biggest problem for Williams is injury or over-confidence. She stepped warily yesterday on Court No.1, the surface that caused Victoria Azarenka to slip to injury, and she concentrated fully on the task facing her on the opposite side of the net. Williams believed her performance was better than she showed in the first round against Mandy Minella and said upsets in both the men's and women's singles have acted as a warning against complacency.

"The first thing I do is say, 'Okay, Serena, stay focused'," Williams said. "This has happened before. I definitely want to stay focused and stay serious so that's what I did again. I was like, 'Okay, be on your toes and be ready for anything'."

Already the overriding title favourite, the departure of second seed Azarenka and third seed Maria Sharapova have seen one bookmaker price Williams' nearest rival as long as 19/1.

Williams said of her next opponent: "Kimiko has great hand-eye co-ordination. She returns unbelievable shots. It doesn't matter how hard you hit it, she sees the ball and gets it back."

Date-Krumm, who was congratulated by Wade as she came off court yesterday, says she has been able to maintain her fitness levels by drinking Chinese tea.

"I have many good memories here. I have good results here," she said. "This year, I skipped many clay-court matches so I could focus on grass, so I'm very happy."

Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska defeated France's Mathilde Johansson 6-1, 6-3, setting up an intriguing meeting with American Madison Keys. Li Na, a former French Open winner, and Samantha Stosur, a former US Open winner, also progressed.

The sixth-seeded Li defeated Romanian Simona Halep, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0. Halep could have posed a problem for Li, as she entered the All England Club after capturing titles each of the past two weeks, first in Nuremberg and then in Den Bosch.

Li had lost in the second round at Wimbledon in each of the past two years after a quarter-final appearance in 2011, and was coming off a second-round loss at this month's French Open after a runner-up finish at the Australian Open. She will play Klara Zakopalova, of the Czech Republic, in the next round.

Stosur, the 14th seed from Australia, is in good form, defeating Russian Olga Puchkova, 6-2, 6-2, after a 6-1, 6-3 rout of Slovak Anna Schmiedlova in the first round.

The competition will become tougher for Stosur in the third round, as Sabine Lisicki now awaits. The No.23-seeded German, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2011 and twice a quarter-finalist in the London suburb, thrashed Russian Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1.

Stosur said the tie with Lisicki will be decided by power, particularly on the serve.

"She really plays aggressive tennis," said the Australian. "I certainly have to try to combat that. We both have got a big serve and are both going to be going for it. So I think that's going to be a huge thing, of who does that better."

However, when it comes to power there will be one ultimate winner. Her name is Serena.