Top seed Ana Ivanovic survived two match points before beating France's Nathalie Dechy 6-7 7-6 10-8 in a second round thriller at Wimbledon.

The Serbian new world number one, fresh from her triumph in the French Open, often looked tentative but survived through sheer persistence to land the narrowest of victories in a scrappy match.

Ivanovic confessed that her heart missed a beat when she survived one match point on a net cord. "I couldn't believe it, I was so lucky," she said after her three hour 24 minute match.

"It was really, really close and only a few balls decided it.

The pair were deservedly given a standing ovation after their seesaw battle of nerves.

In the first set, Ivanovic dropped two points as she sailed into a 3-0 lead. But then she lost her serve twice and Dechy seized the initiative, capturing the tiebreak 7-2.

It was a superb never-say-die performance by the 29-year-old who is ranked 97 in the world.

In the second set, Ivanovic looked to be back in control and had three break points for a 4-1 lead. Dechy, refusing to be denied, levelled the match and had two match points at 5-4.

But Ivanovic fought back to land the tiebreak 7-3. In a nerve-tingling final set, Ivanovic swept into a 4-2 lead.

But Dechy clawed her way back to 5-5 and then survived two match points at 6-5 before finally succumbing 10-8.

Twice former champion Serena Williams also produced an erratic performance but proved too strong for Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska whom she dispatched 6-4 6-4.

The American sixth seed, seeking her first singles title here since 2003, grimaced and frowned her way through, looking far from comfortable on Court Two as she battled her own demons in an error-strewn display that mirrored her opening round win.

Despite her vast grasscourt experience, she found neither rhythm on serve nor her range from the baseline but she still had too much firepower for the 17-year-old wildcard and younger sister of the more renowned Agnieska.

Williams raced into a 4-1 lead but made hard work of claiming the first set. Radwanska was in no mood to throw in the towel in the second, clawing back to 2-2 from a break down before Williams made the decisive second break.

At times, Williams appeared to stare in disbelief after making an error, but said it was because she strived to be a "perfectionist".

An intriguing third round clash with 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo now awaits after the Frenchwoman survived an early scare to beat Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6 6-1 6-1.

Ruano Pascual, the oldest woman left in the draw at 34, broke the 29th seeded Frenchwoman at 3-3 to take the first set but was easily swept aside in the next two.

The Spaniard, a nine-times grand slam doubles champion, won just two more games against the 2006 champion, six years her junior.

Former world number one Mauresmo faces twice winner Williams in the tie of the next round having lost both their previous meetings here in the 2002 and 2004 semi-finals.

Czech Nicole Vaidisova survived her own second set scare to overcome Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2 0-6 6-4 and reach the third round.

Vaidisova, a quarter-finalist last year, won the first set comfortably but then went off the boil as Stosur, ranked 98, slowed the pace.

The 24-year-old Australian won nine games in a row in the swirling breeze before Vaidisova, 19, picked up the pace once more to break Stosur three times from 0-3 down in the final set on her way to victory.

The 18th seeded Czech committed 26 unforced errors, compared to Stosur's 13, and hit five double faults. Her win set up a third-round meeting with Casey Dellacqua, another Australian.

Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, meanwhile, strolled into the third round, defeating Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-3.

The 22-year-old Russian was relieved to enjoy an easy afternoon on Centre Court having been forced to come from a set behind to sneak past French qualifier Mathilde Johansson in round one.

Bondarenko, the world number 47 and a junior winner here four years ago, rallied in the second set but was unable to recover from falling two breaks behind in each set.

Kuznetsova, a three-times Wimbledon quarter-finalist, was equally disappointed with her service game which she gave away twice in an otherwise error-free performance.

She will hope to celebrate her birthday on Friday with victory over another qualifier, Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

The world number 109 made it to a grand slam third round for the first time when Bondarenko's older sister, the 28th seeded Alona, retired injured trailing 3-6 0-3.

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Reuters