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Serena Williams celebrates her victory over China's Zheng Jie on Saturday.

WIMBLEDON WOMEN'S ROUNDUP

By STEVEN WINE

updated 5:27 p.m. ET June 30, 2012

WIMBLEDON, England - While watching Serena Williams come from behind at Wimbledon, older sister Venus sat in the front row stifling a yawn.

Nothing to worry about.

Venus was correct - barely. Serena hit a Wimbledon-record 23 aces, held every service game and escaped an upset bid by Zheng Jie, winning 6-7 (5), 6-2, 9-7 in the third round Saturday.

Williams, who erased all six break points she faced, served three times to stay in the match and held each time at love. She was pushed to deuce serving in the final game but closed out the victory with a volley winner, then hopped in glee on the Centre Court grass.

"I just wanted to get through that match," Williams said. "The last thing I wanted to do was lose."

On an eventful day at Wimbledon, unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova swept every point in a set, American Sam Querrey lost the second-longest match ever at Wimbledon, and three-time runner-up Andy Roddick fended off questions about retirement after being eliminated.

The 5-foot-4 1/2 Zheng, seeded 25th, played with little flash but plenty of consistency against Williams, committing just 17 unforced errors. She hung in the match despite hitting only one ace.

Venus Williams - a five-time champion who lost in the first round - may not have been concerned, but Serena looked plenty worried. She rocketed a return to break for an 8-7 lead in the final set, then showed how much she wanted to win, throwing back her head and letting out a long scream.

Wimbledon (June 22-July 8) Toby Melville / Reuters Magnificent 7th Roger Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title Sunday, beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 under a closed roof on Centre Court. Full story Tennis.com: Federer shows his game remains timeless Oxfam won big when Federer won 7th Wimbledon title Serena powers way to 5th Wimbledon title Opinion: Plan for 'grunt-o-meter' is a scream Men's and women's scores from Wimbledon

Williams has been stalled at 13 Grand Slam titles since winning Wimbledon for the fourth time in 2010, and dealt with a series of health issues in 2010-11.

Her next opponent will be Shvedova, who won all 24 points in the first set - a so-called "golden set" - and beat French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4. It's the first known golden set by a woman in the Open era, the International Tennis Federation said, and the BBC showed a highlight package of all 24 points.

Williams will face Shvedova on Monday.

"Hopefully I'll be able to win a point in the set," Williams said. "That will be my first goal, and then I'll go from there."

Defending champion Petra Kvitova, No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka and former French Open champions Ana Ivanovic and Francesca Schiavone also reached the fourth round.

On a sunny, windy afternoon, the retractable Centre Court roof was open after being closed all day Friday, and the breeze that had Williams' skirt flapping might have contributed to her slow start. She struggled with her returns, and several times shanked serves by Zheng that barely reached 100 mph.

Williams didn't have a break-point chance in the first set, and every point Zheng won in the tiebreaker came on an error by her opponent, including two mishit returns.

"I thought, `Serena, just relax and be calm,"' Williams said. "I felt good. I never felt like I was going to lose this match."

Williams briefly locked on Zheng's serve in the second set, sweeping the final 13 points to even the match.

In the last set, Williams overcame a love-40 deficit to hold for 2-all. Two games later, when she bounced a kick second serve over her opponent's head for an ace, Zheng managed a laugh.

Later in the set Williams won 14 consecutive service points, including three aces in one game to reach 7-all. She held 18 times and lost only 18 of 98 service points.

"It's a tough match, because she has big serve," Zheng said. "It's very difficult against her on the grass court."

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