Serena marches on

The American, a two-time winner at SW19, was never in any trouble against an opponent who looked completely out of her depth on Centre Court.

Sequera put up little resistance as seventh seed Williams romped to a 6-1 6-0 victory to set up a meeting with either Daniela Hantuchova or Katarina Srebotnik.

Williams broke in the opening game and then again in the third to establish a 3-0 lead.

Sequera finally got on the board - earning a sympathetic round of applause from the crowd in the process - to make it 4-1. But it mattered little as Williams held and then broke again to take the opening set.

The second set was even more one-sided, to the point where it became a little embarrassing.

Sequera proved she could play on grass by beating Australian Sam Stosur in the previous round.

But she froze on the big occasion against Williams.

The 26-year-old South American, who wore sunglasses throughout, quickly found herself 4-0 down after dropping her first two service games.

And there was to be no let-up the rest of the way either as Williams displayed a ruthless side to her game to wrap up the win in double-quick time.