Women's round-up: Simona Halep eases into fourth round, Angelique Kerber wins, Petra Kvitova out

Simona Halep strung together three successive victories at the All England Club for only the second time in her career as she eased into the Wimbledon fourth round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Dutch dangerwoman Kiki Bertens on Saturday.

Bertens had all the credentials to create an upset following her run to the semi-finals of last month's French Open, which included a first-round victory over Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

When Bertens broke the world number five in the first game of a match -- which had originally been scheduled on Court Two on Friday but instead took place under a closed Centre Court roof a day later -- the alarm bells must have started ringing for Halep as she stood at the baseline with her head hanging.

"I'm really excited that I'll play the fourth round, it's one of my special grand slams," said Halep, whose French Open challenge fizzled out five weeks ago after she was forced to play her fourth round match in misty rain.

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"It was amazing today, I played good tennis and I'm happy I could win in two sets. I felt every ball. I felt my legs. The court was very safe and I really liked that the court was indoors."

Bertens had all the credentials to create an upset following her run to the semi-finals of the French Open, which included a first-round win over Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

"This match was important for me. It was a big challenge. I knew she's in good form. She did a great job in French Open, so she had a lot of confidence before this match," added Halep, who lost to Bertens in their only previous Tour level clash.

When Bertens broke the world number five in the first game of the match, the alarm bells must have started ringing for Halep as she stood at the baseline with her head hanging.

However, the Romanian quickly snapped back into focus to break back in the next game and twice more to bag the set with a crosscourt service return winner.

The 24-year-old jumped into a 3-0 lead in the second set and booked a last-16 date when Bertens whipped a forehand wide on match point.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION KERBER SECURES PROGRESS

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber ground out a 7-6(11) 6-1 win over unseeded fellow German Carina Witthoeft at Wimbledon on Saturday in a third-round contest high on drama but variable in quality.

Against a now familiar backdrop of showery weather, fourth seed Kerber, an All England Club semi-finalist in 2012, began the brighter against her 21-year-old opponent, who she beat 6-0 6-0 when they met at the same venue this time last year.

But both women struggled to cope with a gusting wind in a dramatic first set lasting exactly an hour and featuring six breaks of serve.

Kerber, 28, ploughed numerous groundstrokes into the net while Witthoeft often hit long and was plagued by an inconsistent serve, making eight double faults overall.

Germany's Angelique Kerber in action against Germany's Carina Witthoeft.

Image credit: Eurosport

The higher-ranked player, who upset the odds against Serena Williams to win her maiden grand slam title in Melbourne in January, looked to have blown her chances of pulling ahead when she let four consecutive first-set points slip away in the tiebreak.

But with neither woman able to make the decisive play, Kerber won the breaker 13-11 when Witthoeft hit another backhand beyond the baseline.

Notwithstanding two rain interruptions, the second set was smoother sailing for Kerber, who broke in the second game and again, on her third break point, in the sixth before serving out the match to 30.

In the fourth round, Kerber will face the winner of the match between Japan's Misaki Doi and Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam.

PETRA KVITOVA OUT

Former champion Petra Kvitova fell to Ekaterina Makarova, losing 7-5 7-6(5) in a second-round match that had taken until Day Six to complete.

The rain-delayed clash between the Czech 10th seed, the title winner in 2011 and 2014, and her Russian opponent was the final match of the round.

"I felt stuck in the second round for a while. I think that the tournament was really weird for me this time," Kvitova told reporters.

"I was waiting all day long almost every day to be scheduled on, and didn't really have a chance to finish or step on the court."

When play was finally possible, blustery conditions contributed to a relatively high error count by both women -- Kvitova serving five double faults and Makarova six.

Makarova, a quarter-finalist in 2014 and beaten by Kvitova in the third round in 2013, broke in the 11th game of the first set and held serve to take the set, the Czech missing two chances to break back.

After an exchange of breaks early in the second set, the Russian sealed the win in the tiebreak on a forehand error by Kvitova.

CIBULKOVA KNOCKS OUT BOUCHARD

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova is on an eight-match winning roll on grass she hopes will continue deep into the second week of Wimbledon.

The 19th seed beat 2014 runner-up Eugenie Bouchard 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to reach the last 16 without the loss of a set and now has third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in her sights.

Cibulkova prepared for the championships by winning the Eastbourne title - knocking out Poland's Radwanska in the quarter-finals - and the old saying that momentum is key to success on grass courts could not be more apt.

Elsewhere, Lucia Safarova triumphed in a lengthy deciding tie-break against Garbine Muguruza's conqueror Jana Cepelova, winning 4-6 6-1 12-10

Sloane Stephens also found herself in a third-set tie-break, beating Mandy Minella 3-6 7-6(6) 8-6.

It was easier for Misaki Doi, beating Anna-Lena Friedsam 7-6(1) 6-3, and for Yaroslava Shvedova, who beat one-time finalist Sabine Lisicki 7-6)2) 6-1.

Results from the Wimbledon Women's Singles matches on Saturday

Round Three

3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-1

9-Madison Keys (U.S.) beat Alize Cornet (France) 6-4 5-7 6-2

19-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-4 6-3

28-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Jana Cepelova (Slovakia) 4-6 6-1 12-10

Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) beat Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 7-6(2) 6-1

4-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Carina Witthoeft (Germany) 7-6(11) 6-1

Misaki Doi (Japan) beat Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) 7-6(1) 6-3

5-Simona Halep (Romania) beat 26-Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-4 6-3

Round Two

11-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) beat Monica Niculescu (Romania) 4-6 6-2 6-1

18-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) beat Mandy Minella (Luxembourg) 3-6 7-6(6) 8-6

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