Wimbledon 2017: Azarenka Sets up Watson Tie

• Murray, three other Britons in Round of 32

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka reached the third round at Wimbledon with a 6-3 6-3 win over 15th seed Elena Vesnina. Azarenka is to play Heather Watson in the third round.

In the men’s draw, Murray, the world number one, defeated Dustin Brown of Germany 6-3 6-2 6-2 while his fellow Briton, Aljaz Bedene, 27, won 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3 against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur.

Watson, 25, matched her best SW19 run with a stunning 6-0 6-4 win over 18th seed Anastasija Sevastova. This is Watson’s first Round of 32 qualification since 1986.

Azarenka, 27, is playing only her second tournament of 2017 after giving birth to her son Leo in December.
The Belarusian, ranked 683rd, broke the Russian’s serve in the sixth game on her way to taking the opening set.

Azarenka broke Vesnina’s serve twice more in the second set to secure a Vesnina, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2016, needed medical attention in the second set as she was struggling with a hip injury, but was able to complete the match.

Sixth seed Johanna Konta, 26, won 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 10-8 against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in a tense battle on a hot Centre Court.
Watson and Konta’s victories mean they have become the first two British women to appear in the same third-round draw since Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs three decades ago.

Konta faces Greece’s Maria Sakkari, ranked 101, in the third round.
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams survived a scare to beat China’s Wang Qiang and move into the third round of the women’s singles.

Tenth seed Williams, 37, lost the opening set against the world number 55, but recovered to win 4-6 6-4 6-1.

American Williams led 4-2 in the first set on Court One but then lost four consecutive games to fall a set behind.

However, she broke Wang’s serve late in the second set and twice more in the deciding set for the victory.

Williams, who last won the Wimbledon title nine years ago, will play unseeded Japanese player Naomi Osaka in the last 32 after she defeated 22nd seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 1-6 6-0 6-4.
Eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who reached the last eight last year, also moved into the third round. The Slovakian defeated unseeded American Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-4 on Court 18.