Mauresmo hurries to Wimbledon win

Fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo, of France, won her women’s singles third round match against Mara Santangelo of Italy today, 6-1 6-2.

There was a surprise early in the second set when the French star dropped her serve - thanks to another double-fault and a pair of brave forehand returns by Santangelo but she immediately broke back for 2-1.

There was a touch of carelessness about some of Mauresmo’s play but that was probably due to an undemanding task.

She paid the price though when Santangelo, seeded 28, cashed in on some over-hitting to stay in contention at 2-3 down.

The champion saved her serve, and a two-game cushion, with the help of a 108mph ace, as Santangelo’s game unravelled completely.

She double-faulted to a 2-5 deficit, leaving the fate of the contest beyond all reasonable doubt.

Mauresmo hit back to save two break points with further aces either side of a double fault and then ended a long rally with a superb backhand pass on the run before another ace clinched success in 57 minutes.