Serena Survives Again at Wimbledon

Serena overcame the red-hot Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 on Monday to set up a clash of the champions against 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova. Tune in to ESPN or ESPN3.com today to see Serena against Kvitova in the second match after 7 am DC time on Centre Court.

Shvedova, who played against the Kastles in DC as a member of the 2008 New York Buzz, entered her match versus Serena on the heels of a historic performance. The Olympian from Kazakhstan swept all 24 points in the first set of her third-round win over Sara Errani on Saturday.

But it was Serena who dominated the first set Monday, winning 28 of 41 points to take the opener 6-1 over Shvedova.

After Shvedova bounced back in the second set, Serena played a sensational third, striking 16 winners to just two unforced errors. The fifth-year Kastle did not face a break point in the final set.

Two days earlier, Serena was not broken a single time by China's Jie Zheng in a rematch of the 2008 Wimbledon semifinals. Nevertheless, the pesky Zheng did not go away easily. The No. 25 seed extended Serena two hours and 28 minutes before the four-time champion prevailed 6-7(5), 6-2, 9-7.

In less than three weeks, Serena will lead the Kastles against the Kansas City Explorers. Very few tickets to the July 22 match remain; click here to secure yours before the match sells out!

Though Serena is on schedule in singles at Wimbledon, rain and darkness have caused delays in the doubles draws, forcing several Kastles into playing the waiting game.

Serena and Venus Williams are locked at one-set all in the second round against French Open finalists Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko, whose boyfriend Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has attended all of her matches, most of her practices and was even spotted practicing his own tennis game (See exclusive video on Facebook.com/WashKastles).

Australian Open champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek were also in the middle of a match before being forced off the court due to a downpour. Paes and Stepanek trail Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.

In mixed doubles, Paes and Elena Vesnina have yet to even begin their first match of the tournament against Ashley Fisher and Mona Barthel.

Kastles' mixed doubles teammates Paes and Serena are each on today's schedule twice, but rain is in the forecast for Wimbledon once again. While Washington's doubles matches are in doubt, Serena's singles quarterfinal against Kvitova is assured to be played on Centre Court, which features a retractable roof.

Following first-round victories, Bobby Reynolds and Anastasia Rodionova of the Kastles were eliminated in the second round from men's and women's doubles respectively. Rodionova also fell in three sets with Andre Sa in a mixed doubles first-round match that began on Friday, but didn't conclude until Monday.

Rodionova tweeted that it was the longest match of her life. Player retweets aren't the only exciting content you can find on the Kastles' Twitter page.

Each time a Kastle is victorious at Wimbledon, one of our Twitter followers who retweets the result will win an I LOVE DC tennis ball T-shirt. Eight shirts have been given away so far, with 13 more potential opportunities for you to win before the Wimbledon finals.

Then, if Serena, Venus or Paes captures a Wimbledon title, someone who retweets the championship result will win two tickets to the Kastles' home opener on July 12th, including pre-match VIP access.

This shirt is given out each time a Kastle wins at Wimbledon.

Five Days Remain in Kastles' SunTrust Sweepstakes

Win your way into the match and onto the court with the Washington Kastles' SunTrust Sweepstakes!

Like the Kastles on Facebook, then enter for a chance to win two box seats with VIP access to see Venus Williams and the Kastles against the Boston Lobsters on July 16th. If that's not enough, the winner will also receive two spots in a tennis clinic at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf with Coach Murphy Jensen .

Increase your chances with five bonus entries by liking SunTrust's Live Solid Facebook page!

Existing and new Kastles' Facebook fans are eligible to enter. The sweepstakes ends on July 8th and the winner will be announced on July 9th.

If you don't win, don't fear!

Tickets to see Venus and the Kastles are still available on Ticketmaster.com, but you won't want to wait until gameday to get them. All past Kastles' matches in DC featuring Venus or Serena Williams have sold out.

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World TeamTennis Stories from July 3, 2012

• Serena Survives Again at Wimbledon - Washington Kastles

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