The closing stages of WTA second-round action at Wimbledon saw most of the notable women advance, while some of the young Americans shone.

The Heavyweights

Top seed Serena Williams continued her assault on the field with a decisive victory against Chanelle Scheepers 6-1 6-1. In a dominating performance, Williams overpowered the South African with a display of power that included 26 winners, eight aces, and a 52-25 advantage in points won. The match lasted a mere 49 minutes. 

Williams, who has her sights aimed at her first Grand Slam title of the year, made it clear that she still embraces the favorite's role. “I’m always the favorite, which can be some pressure but I’d rather be looked at that way,” she said after the match. Many have stated that it is her tournament to lose after such a poor performance at Roland Garros. However, Serena could face her first test in the third round, where she will meet the feisty Alize Cornet.

In other action, fifth seed Maria Sharapova cruised into the third round with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Timea Bacsinszky. In a match that took exactly one hour, Sharapova imposed her will and won 56 of the 88 points. Ten years after her Wimbledon championship in 2004, Sharapova has her goal set to duplicate that result in 2014. “I wanted to step it up after feeling nervous in my first-round match. The butterflies are always there. But I want to feel motivated to win this championship again,” she said

Meanwhile, 11th seed Ana Ivanovic continued her stellar play of late with a 6-4 6-0 win against Zheng Jie of China. It was Zheng who defeated the then-world No. 1 Ivanovic at Wimbledon in 2008, fresh off her title at Roland Garros that year. A much different result was at hand six years later. Ivanovic, who is now exuding confidence on the grass, entered Wimbledon on the heels of her grass title at Birmingham. She has quickly become a contender at a major where her best previous result was a semifinal in 2007.

The Serb, whose recent results have resembled those of a higher-ranked competitor, reflected on the state of her game,  “I feel like I have been playing a lot of matches and had a lot of good victories this year, but the rankings didn't really show that,” she said. “I'm sure it will take care of itself later in the year. I don't try to think too much about that. I really try to do my work on the court, to win the matches that I should, and to improve in each match. Then the rankings take care of themselves.” 

The Americans

When speaking of young Americans, attention often turns to the men, who are in search of elite players to fill their void. However, there is a group of young women who are making a name for themselves as they fall in line behind Serena Williams. A couple of those were in action on Thursday.

Alison Riske came up with an impressive performance in her straight-sets win against Camila Giorgi. The American advanced to the third round 7-5 6-2. Riske took advantage of a poor serving performance by the Italian, who was only able to place 35 percent of her first serves in play. Riske played a crisp match with minimal errors while patiently attacking when opportunity presented itself. With the victory, Riske moves on to face French Open champion Sharapova in the third round.

Meanwhile, riding the results from her maiden WTA title, Madison Keys eliminated 31st seed Klara Koukalova 7-5 6-7 6-2. The big-hitting American has found her confidence on a surface that suits her. Playing a high-risk, high-reward style, Keys overcame 43 unforced errors with 37 winners and tossed in seven aces despite struggling with her first-serve percentage.

Keys will face Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round in a portion of the draw that has opened up due to Jelena Jankovic's defeat earlier.

The Comeback

Coming into Wimbledon, former finalist Vera Zvonareva had won just one match in 2014. She has now doubled that with her second win in London, 6-4 6-4 over Donna Vekic of Croatia. The veteran who missed a good portion of two years with a shoulder injury and illness played a solid match on Thursday. Zvonareva came up with 30 winners while profiting from the 17-year-old's 26 unforced errors. Despite the outcome, there is plenty of upside for Vekic, who is ranked 87th in the world just two days prior to her 18th birthday. Meanwhile, Zvonareva will attempt to continue her comeback effort when she faces Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan in the third round. Diyas advanced by upsetting 15th seed Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets.