Wimbledon: Venus approaching her best

Venus Williams warned her Wimbledon rivals that she was approaching her best form after booking her place in the third round.

Williams crashed out of the French Open in the first round and has failed to reproduce the tennis that brought her the Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic titles last year.

But the American second seed showed glimpses of her awesome best as she beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-2 victory.

"In the first set I had a lot of opportunities but I wasn't capitalising," said Williams.

"After that rain delay I said 'If I don't hit the ball over the net then she can't hit the ball over the net, I have to hit it back so she can.' That kind of slowed things down in my mind.

"But I'm not that far away from my best. I think I'm setting up well, moving my feet well and serving quite well also. I think sometimes I'm just a little bit off with my shots, the contact point."

Williams, who faces 29th seed Elena Likhovtseva in the third round, was full of praise for the beaten Hantuchova, who reached the semi-finals of the DFS Classic on grass in Edgbaston recently.

"I don't really see any weaknesses in her game at all, except that she hasn't played as much as maybe the next person has. That would have been me today!" Williams added.

"Some things are even predictable if you have a little bit of experience. All she has to do is keep working hard, believing in herself. Basically that's all you have to do. She definitely has the talent for the top 20."

Williams' victory means she joined her younger sister Serena in the last 32 and the elder Williams admitted the pair seem to still enjoy an 'intimidation factor' over their rivals.

"I think that when people come out to play us they hope we have a bad day because if we don't it's pretty rough, especially in doubles.

"If one of us is having a bad day, the other one isn't going to. The other one is going to hold the team up with all the force.

"If we don't have a bad day then we're pretty merciless. Even if we do, it's a rough game. We just have to play more consistently."