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LONDON: Defending champion Serena Williams needed another three-setter to reach the Wimbledon third round on Thursday while former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic barely broke sweat in her last 64 encounter.

And, this year's tournament saw its biggest upset yet when unseeded Sabine Lisicki came back from a set down and then a break down in the decider to stun third seed and Roland Garros champion Li Na 3-6, 6-4, 8-6.

Four-time champion Williams came back from a set down to defeat Romanian teenager Simona Halep 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Serbian 18th-seed Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 Roland Garros champion and who made the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2007, eased past Greek World No. 121 Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 6-0.

“I think lots of players tend to peak for this event. It's one of the biggest tournaments in the world,” said Ivanovic, who has only dropped just four games in the first two rounds.

Francesca Schiavone, the sixth seed and 2010 Roland Garros winner, was also an early winner beating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3.

Djokovic in fine form

Novak Djokovic continued his red-hot form with a straight sets victory over South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the second round.

The Serbian second seed did not take the match without a fight as Anderson showed plenty of determination but was too good for the World No. 36 in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win on Court 1 which took just under two hours.

Despite Anderson's efforts, Djokovic, who has only lost one match all year, outclassed his opponent at both the baseline and the net.

“I served well, I played well, I returned really well. That was the key,” Djokovic said.

“Every tennis player is looking for perfection all the time, trying to play the best possible tennis. Even though I may be hard on myself sometimes I'm satisfied with my performance.”

Later, Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling came from two sets down to defeat Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and reach the third round.

Soderling looked to be heading for an upset defeat after losing the opening two sets before digging out a gutsy 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory before an enthralled Centre Court.

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi squandered a match point in an action-filled first round clash to make an early exit from the men's doubles event. The fourth-seeded Indo-Pak pair lost 6-2, 2-6, 19-21 to unseeded Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah at court number six.

The Colombians came back strongly after losing the opening set and went on to stun the 2010 US Open finalist.

The match turned into a keen bout of nerves in the third and final set, in which 40 games were played. Bopanna and Qureshi had a chance to finish the match in their favour in the 30th game.

However, the gritty pair of Cabal and Farah not only survived but raised their game further in the subsequent games.

The unseeded Colombian duo finally converted the chance in the 40th game to storm into the second round. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Men: Second round:

28-David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (Aut) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Rik de Voest (Rsa) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; 19-Michael Llodra (Fra) bt Rocardo Mello (Bra) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

2-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-3 6-4, 6-2; Karol Beck (Svk) bt 26-Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) 7-6(5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Xavier Malisse (Bel) bt 20-Florian Mayer (Ger) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; 5-Robin Soderling (Swe) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4;  24- Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) bt Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4; Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) bt 13-Viktor Troicki (Srb) 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles: First round: Juan Sebastian Cabal (Col) & Robert Farah (Col) bt 4-Rohan Bopanna (Ind) & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak) 2-6, 6-2, 21-19.

Women: Second round: Petra Cetkovska (Cze) bt 13-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4; 27-Jarmila Gajdosova (Aus) bt Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) 7-6(1), 6-3 ; Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt 3-Li Na (Chn) bt 3-6, 6-4, 8-6.

24-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Polona Hercog (Slo) 6-1, 6-2; 16-Julia Goerges (Ger) bt Mathilde Johansson (Fra) 7-6(10), 6-2; 18-Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) 6-3, 6-0; 7-Serena Williams (USA) bt Simona Halep (Rom) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; 6-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 7-5, 6-3; Tamira Paszek (Aut) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-4, 6-1; Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt 14-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-3, 6-3; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) bt Sara Errani (Ita) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; 19-Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt Anna Tatishvili (Geo) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; 12-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) 6-0, 6-2; 26-Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 7-5, 7-5; Misaki Doi (Jpn) bt Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles: First round: 4-Sania Mirza (Ind) & Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) & Melanie Oudin (USA) 6-0, 7-6(4) .