The second round of women’s action at Wimbledon began on Wednesday. In contrast to last year, few significant surprises unfolded.

Azarenka Tumbles

Clearly not at her pre-injury form, eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka lost in three sets to Bojana Jovanovski 6-3 3-6 7-5 on Wednesday. Despite not performing at her best, Azarenka looked to be in control at times but failed to cash in on break-point opportunities, letting the Serb off the hook numerous times.

The former world No. 1 has missed a good portion of the year, rehabbing a foot injury. In this second-round match, she looked to have turned the corner in the third set with an early break. However, Jovanovski returned the favor immediately and then finally broke through for good in the 12th game to close out the match. With the victory, the world No. 45 will advance to face Tereza Smitkova of the Czech Republic, who ended Coco Vandeweghe's run on grass with a straight-sets victory.

Cibulkova Overcomes, Pennetta Falls

Tenth seed Dominika Cibulkova overcame a slew of errors and a late break as she was aided by a time violation in advancing past Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, 3-6 6-3 8-6.

Thirty-six unforced errors nearly did the Slovak in as she dug an early hole. Never truly finding her best game, Cibulkova did what she does best, battling and scrapping. Nonetheless, she found herself forced to break to stay in the match late in the third set. With Van Uytvanck serving to close out the match, a time violation was called, which appeared to rattle the 20-year-old. Although she recovered to break later and stayed in the set for several more games, Cibulkova's firepower was ultimately too much.

Nearly simultaneously, 12th seed Flavia Pennetta fell to upstart American Lauren Davis, 6-4 7-6. Undersized but surprisingly powerful, Davis was able to move Pennetta throughout the court and overcame 26 unforced errors, countering with 23 timely winners. Davis is among a number of Americans who are collectively putting together a very solid fortnight thus far.

Zvonareva Advances

An interesting story at Wimbledon is that of Vera Zvonareva, who missed nearly a year and a half due to injury and has yet to find her previous form. The 2010 Wimbledon finalist, who was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, has seen that ranking tumble to its current position of No. 566. Coming into Wimbledon, the Russian has seen action in just five matches in 2014, losing four of those. However, she found a way to advance past Tara Moore of Great Britain 6-4 6-7 9-7.

In a match that was continued from Tuesday, the young Brit could not overcome nerves when attempting to close out a signature win as she twice served for the match in the third set. Much to the credit of the veteran Zvonareva, she fought back despite lacking court time since her injury. Finally, in just under three hours, Zvonareva won her first Grand Slam match since Wimbledon of 2012.

While the match lacked star power appeal, the tennis was extremely compelling and one of the better matches of the tournament thus far. For Zvonareva, whose career appears to be at a crossroads due to injury and advancing age, competing at Wimbledon clearly meant a lot after her long road back. “I have been missing this place. Thank you for the WC [wild card],” she tweeted upon her arrival in London. The Russian later followed that up, “First day of Wimbledon. Great atmosphere!”

Whether Zvonareva is capable of fully returning from such a devastating injury and illness remains to be seen. However, her victory on Wednesday was clearly noteworthy.

Favorites Roll

Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, and Venus Williams all advanced with lopsided second-round victories on Wednesday. Second seed Li Na, dictated play throughout the match and advanced with a 6-2 6-2 win over Yvonne Meusburger. Li kept the Austrian on the defensive throughout the match, firing 33 winners and allowing only four in return.

Hoping to surpass her best results at the tournament, Li underscored her focus, “You can pretty easily think about the second week, but for me, if I want to push myself, at least I have to win another match and to come to the second week and then to think about getting further.” The Chinese champion has yet to better a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon.

Fourth-seeded Radwanska needed just 56 minutes to dispatch Casey Dellacqua 6-4 6-0. Radwanska continued her clean play this week, yielding just eight unforced errors while capitalizing on the Aussie's struggling serve. Dellacqua placed just 47 percent of her first serves in play. Radwanska's precision play delighted the London crowd, grabbing her attention. “Comments that I made tennis entertaining and they really love watching are the best I could hear,” she said afterwards.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams overpowered Kurumi Nara of Japan, 7-6, 6-1. After a tough first set, when she came back from a 0-3 hole, Williams cruised behind her serve and power game. She served seven aces and came up with 46 winners in the match.

Despite the constant hints that the 34-year-old is in the twilight of her career, Williams made it clear that she still has her sights on the big picture. “Definitely, for me, it’s a step in the right direction,” she stated afterwards. Williams will face a major test in the next round, where she will meet the 2011 champion, Petra Kvitova.

Elsewhere, 16th seed Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Naomi Broady of Great Britain 6-3 6-2 in just under an hour. The Dane took advantage of a strong serving day as she placed 86 percent of her first serves in play and won 89 percent of those points. Striking nearly flawless groundstrokes, Wozniacki gave away just two unforced errors.