Former champion Serena Williams outclassed Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-4 to book her place in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

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• Tournament gallery
• Women's drawsheet
• Matchcast: Williams bt Vinci
• Matchcast: Dementieva bt Kulikova
• Matchcast: Azarenka bt Cirstea

The 27-year-old American, seeking to add a third Wimbledon crown to the Australian Open she won in January, broke for a 3-1 lead in the opening set against the world number 53 and never looked back.

The second seed breezed through the opening set in 28 minutes and though Vinci had the audacity to break back with a refreshing penchant for serve and volley, Williams completed victory with a crunching ace on Court Two.

She will play Daniela Hantuchova for a place in the quarter-finals, after the Slovak downed her doubles partner Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-4 6-3.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva brushed aside fellow Russian Regina Kulikova 6-1 6-2 to book a place in the fourth round for the sixth time in her career.

The fourth seed, who looks to have one of the best quarters in the draw, broke twice in the opening set before wrapping it up in just 24 minutes before Kulikova, playing her sixth match after a tough qualifying run, improved markedly.

The world number 191 made more of a game of it in the second but Dementieva had too much in her armoury, sealing victory with a scrambled backhand down the line.

Dementieva will play another compatriot Elena Vesnina in the next round, after the Russian downed Slovakian 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 4-6 6-4.

Gisela Dulko, the Argentine who knocked Maria Sharapova out in the second round, went down in three sets to Nadia Petrova 3-6 6-3 6-4.

The Russian 10th seed next encounters Belarussian eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, who ended the campaign of Romanian Sorana Cristea, seeded 28th, 7-6(2) 6-3.

Vera Zvonareva saw her tournament ended by an ankle injury. The Russian seventh seed withdrew shortly before the start of her scheduled third round meeting with Virginie Razzano of France, who now faces Francesca Schiavone.

The unseeded Italian beat 12th seed Marion Bartoli, runner-up in 2007 to Venus Williams, 7-6(5) 6-0.

Zvonareva, 24, reached the semi-finals of this year's Australian Open but she has struggled since suffering an injury to her right ankle in April which sidelined her for eight weeks and meant she missed the French Open.