2017 Wimbledon: Johanna Konta wins epic battle against Donna Vekic

Sixth-seeded Johanna Konta of Britain won an epic battle at Wimbledon on Wednesday as she beat Croatia's Donna Vekic 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-8 on Centre Court at the All England Club in London.

The three-hour-plus second-round encounter was a rematch of last month's Aegon Open final, which Vekic won in three sets.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is back in the third round as the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist ousted 15th-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 38 minutes.

The 27-year-old Azarenka produced the best performance to date of her comeback from maternity leave.

"I think I played really clean from the baseline today," Azarenka said afterwards. "I could have played a little better on the return, but she also served really well. But overall, I felt like I played really good on the important moments, which gave me opportunities to win comfortably today."

Azarenka, back in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the Australian Open last year, will next face local favorite Heather Watson, who defeated No. 18 seed Anastasija Sevastova Latvia 6-0, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia bounced back from a marathon opener with a straight sets victory over American Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-4 in 76 minutes to move into the third round.

Cibulkova has now reached the third round or better in seven of her 10 career appearances at Wimbledon.

"Today was really, really good match from both sides," Cibulkova said. "I would say she was playing really well. She was going for her shots and playing really fast. The serve was really hard to return. I had to find my rhythm, and, you know, I never played her before. I was prepared a little bit, but it's always different when you stand against opponent for the first time."