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Williams sisters win on hottest day in Wimbledon history

By The Sports Xchange
American Venus Williams returns the ball in her match against Kazakhstan Yulia Putintseva on day three of the 2015 Wimbledon championships, London on July 01, 2015. Williams won the match 7-6, 6-4. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI.
American Venus Williams returns the ball in her match against Kazakhstan Yulia Putintseva on day three of the 2015 Wimbledon championships, London on July 01, 2015. Williams won the match 7-6, 6-4. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI. | License Photo

Sisters Serena and Venus Williams remained on track for a fourth-round meeting, each winning in straight sets in the second round Wednesday on the hottest day in Wimbledon history.

With the temperature exceeding 95 degrees, top-seeded Serena beat Hungary's Timea Babos 6-4, 6-1 and 16th-seeded Venus beat Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

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With two more wins, five-time Wimbledon champ Venus would meet Serena, who is riding a 23-match Grand Slam winning streak and also seeking her sixth Wimbledon victory.

"She poses a big threat for me," Serena said.

Venus last won the tournament in 2008, and she has been playing through Sjogren's syndrome -- an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain -- for most of this decade.

"I always root for Venus," Serena said. "She's been through a lot in her career. She's really playing well."

There were two upsets on the women's side, with 158th-ranked qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands knocking out No. 7 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 and 47th-ranked CoCo Vandeweghe beating No. 11 Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

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Men's top seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round by defeating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Nieminen, 33, was playing his final Wimbledon.

The day was slightly hotter than the 1976 record of 94 degrees.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Djokovic said. "People were talking about it and predicting really difficult conditions. But I didn't find it as difficult as I thought it might be."

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