Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams navigated a "perfect storm" as she rallied from a set down to beat veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm in a pulsating second-round clash.

While rain fell outside, Williams and Date-Krumm entertained the Duchess of Cornwall and the Centre Court crowd under the closed roof with some breathtaking tennis.

Date-Krumm took the first set on a tie-break but only after Williams had battled back from 5-1 down and saved a total of seven set points.

Williams moved a break up early in the second set to draw level in the match before prevailing in a hard-fought third to clinch a 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 8-6 victory after nearly three hours.

The American had only played four matches since January after suffering a hip injury and was relieved to find a way past the 40-year-old from Japan.

"I thought she played unbelievable today. I thought she had some luck on her side with net-cords and balls hitting lines. This is a great surface for her too," Williams said.

"It was a perfect storm for her to try to get a win. Thankfully I had some answers.

"More than anything I've learned (since returning to action at Eastbourne) that I'm very competitive.

"When you play an opponent like that you just have to get into that competitive mode and compete, no matter what happens."

Date-Krumm lost to Steffi Graf in the 1996 Wimbledon semi-finals and wishes she had been able to play that match under a Centre Court roof.

"In 1996 I played Steffi Graf in two days because of the darkness," she said.

"I like indoor courts. If we had a roof in the 1990s I would not have had to play Steffi over two days and I'd have had more chance."

Williams will face Spain's Maria Jose Sanchez Martinez next after the world number 76 beat Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-0.

Vera Zvonareva, last year's beaten finalist, overcame Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina 6-1 7-6 (7/5) and she will meet Tsvetana Pironkova, who beat Petra Martic 6-1 6-4.

British number three Anne Keothavong crashed to a 6-2 6-1 defeat to eighth seed Petra Kvitova, a semi-finalist last year who will now play Roberta Vinci.

"I thought Petra played a really good match. She's definitely one of the in-form players and a favourite for this tournament," Keothavong said.

Eleventh seed Andrea Petkovic was last on court as darkness fell but teed up a third round meeting with Ksenia Pervak after beating Canadian Stephanie Dubois 6-3 4-6 6-3.

The rain over Wimbledon had caused havoc with the schedules and while some players reached the third round, other were still in first-round action.

AEGON Classic champion Sabine Lisicki overwhelmed Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 6-1 to book a second round meeting with French Open champion Li Na.

"I'm coming off a title, so I feel very good. I'm just happy to be back on the grass after two years. I have a lot of confidence," Lisicki said.

Seeds Agnieszka Radwanska, Julia Goerges, Flavia Pennetta, Dominika Cibulkova and Jarmila Gajdosova all progressed but there was one notable casualty.

The eccentric American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, seeded 30, failed to produce a display to match her eye-catching outfit and she fell to Japan's Misaki Doi 6-4 5-7 7-5.

British hope Heather Watson produced a battling performance, not helped by an elbow injury which required heavy strapping, but fell to Mathilde Johansson 2-6 6-4 6-4.