Ivanovic survives scare to scrape through

(CNN) -- World number one and top seed Ana Ivanovic survived a scare lasting three hours and 24 minutes before disposing of France's Nathalie Dechy 6-7 7-6 10-8 in a Court One epic at Wimbledon.

Ivanovic's victory fell only 21 minutes short of the all-time record for a women's singles match at the All England Club but it could have been over more than an hour earlier in Dechy's favor.

One set and 5-4 ahead, Dechy fashioned two match points on her opponent's serve and looked like converting her second when an Ivanovic volley hit the net heavily -- but trickled over to save the blushing Serb.

Ivanovic, who had looked on course for a quick victory over the world number 97 after storming through the first three games in just six minutes, had been pegged back from a break up twice in the first set.

Dechy romped through the tie-break to secure the advantage and performed similar mini-comebacks in the second set.

If the momentum was expected to shift after Ivanovic took charge of the second set breaker, no-one was telling Dechy, who incredibly had failed to win two consecutive matches in her season to date.

Broken twice more in the decider to fall 4-2 then 5-3 behind, Dechy battled back each time and saw another slice of outrageous fortune fall the world number one's way when the pair were locked together at 5-5.

Dechy flashed away a forehand volley which ought to have sent her 15-30 up on the Ivanovic serve, but in doing so lost her hat and was harshly ordered to replay the point -- which Ivanovic duly won.

The 29-year-old Frenchwoman, playing her 13th consecutive Wimbledon, then saved two match points on her own serve when Ivanovic held a 7-6 advantage.

But her incredible challenge finally fell short when Ivanovic secured three more match points at 9-8. She took advantage of her second with a forehand volley down the line.

Celebrating her victory, Ivanovic went across and kissed the net at the point at which it had saved her in the second set, before both players exited the court to a richly-deserved standing ovation.

"It was an amazing match. In the second set I saved some match points and from that point on I just thought it's my second chance," Ivanovic said.

"My heart skipped a beat when I won match point. Once it went in I just couldn't believe it. I'm just so, so thrilled," said the French Open champion. She will next play China's Zheng Jie, a 6-2 7-5 winner over Britain's Elena Baltacha.

In other matches, two-time champion Serena Williams took another step towards a third title as she swept past Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska 6-4 6-4.

Williams, who won Wimbledon in 2002 and 2003, was in cruise control against the 17-year-old wildcard as she avoided falling victim to the curse of Court Two, nicknamed the graveyard of former champions.

The American sixth seed will now face a mouth-watering third round showdown against another former champion Amelie Mauresmo after the 29th seed came from a set down to overcome Spaniard Virginie Ruano Pascual 4-6 6-1 6-1.

Williams holds a 9-2 advantage head-to-head, but the Frenchwoman triumphed in the last clash between the players at the U.S. Open in 2006 and Williams is relishing the opportunity to gain her revenge for that last-16 defeat.

"I haven't played her in a while so I'm looking forward to it. I had no idea I might play her and I'm excited about that," said Williams.

"She's been struggling a lot this year so you can only hope she does well, especially being a past champion here and a past champion in general. It will be a good match."

Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova eased past Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-3 on Center Court to book her place in the last 32.

Kuznetsova, who will celebrate her 23rd birthday on Friday, showed none of the frailties which forced her to edge past French qualifier Mathilde Johansson in three sets in the opening round.

Kuznetsova double-broke immediately to take a 3-0 lead and from that moment the outcome was never in doubt as she coasted home with a solid grasscourt performance.

Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze enjoyed a similarly straightforward passage as she overcame Romania's Edina Gallovits 6-4 6-2 on Court Two.

Fifth seed Elena Dementieva dropped a set before disposing of Maria Elena Camerin 6-3 6-7 6-3 in a first round match suspended late on Tueday at 3-3 in the second set, while 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova survived a major blip to beat Australian Sam Stosur 6-2 0-6 6-4.

Last year's finalist Marion Bartoli and 16-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also went through, but 20th seed Francesca Schiavone fell 3-6 7-5 9-7 to Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.