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          ICYMI at Wimbledon: Top seeds continue to fall, but Serena, Venus and Roger stay the course

          Serena Williams celebrates her first-round win over Arantxa Rus. Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
          • D'Arcy Maine, ESPN.com
          Jul 4, 2018, 07:00 PM

          WIMBLEDON -- Day 3 of Wimbledon is officially in the books, and what a day it was. From upsets to flying ants to rain to World Cup fever, there was truly something for everyone on Wednesday.

          While you perhaps missed some of this during your Fourth of July barbecuing, fear not. We've got you covered.

          While top seeds have continued to fall, tried-and-true perennial favorites Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Roger Federer stayed the course and all advanced to the third round.

          Serena needed just 66 minutes to dispatch qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-4 in her first match on Centre Court since hoisting the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2016. And, for those keeping count, it was her 16th straight victory at the All England Club, with her last defeat occurring in the 2014 tournament. She improved to 18-0 in the second round.

          Despite her impressive streaks, the No. 25 seed was only moderately pleased with her performance. "There's so many things that I want to improve on, but that's kind of how I always feel," Serena said after the match. "I feel like I'm going in the right direction. This match was better than my first round. I just hope every match is better."

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          Serena cruises to 3rd round at Wimbledon

          Serena Williams beats Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets to win her second-round match.

          She also took a few moments after the match to give some encouraging words to Tomova. "She played really well," the seven-time Wimbledon champion said later. "I felt like she should be encouraged, keep going in the direction that she's going. She's obviously going in the right direction."

          While Serena cruised to victory, sister Venus needed three sets to close out Alexandra Dulgheru. Much like her opening-round match, the No. 9 seed struggled in the first and then dominated, winning 12 of the next 13 games, and closing it out 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

          In her typical fashion as of late, she was tight-lipped about her play after the match, simply saying, "I'm happy. I won, so ... As long as I walk away at the end with a win, that's the goal."

          Sounds about right.

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          Venus rallies again to win 2nd-round match

          Venus Williams recovers after dropping the first set to beat Alexandra Dulgheru and advance to the third round at Wimbledon.

          Venus did go on to admit she doesn't watch Federer play ("I don't really watch tennis. I watch my match, and that's all. I'm sure he plays amazing, though"), but millions of others do, and they likely were thrilled to see the eight-time Wimbledon champion top Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

          The top seed won 35(!) consecutive points on serve and notched an impressive 48 winners and 16 aces. In other words, it was just business as usual for the unflappable 36-year-old. He'll next face Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 32.

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          Federer advances to 3rd round at Wimbledon

          Roger Federer beats Lukas Lacko in straight sets to move on to the third round.

          Eugenie Bouchard continued her upward surge on Tuesday as she advanced to the second round at Wimbledon. After several years of well-documented struggles since her finalist appearance at the All England Club in 2014, it's clear the win meant a lot to the 24-year-old Canadian.

          So much so, it might be making her a bit delusional.

          No, not about the state of her game or anything like that. But on Wednesday she took to Twitter to say she wanted to go stand in the queue. You know, the legendary line in which fans stand for hours, and often overnight, in order to buy tickets.

          While that is truly a lovely thought, and it's great to see she recognizes the dedication of fans, I'm gonna stop you right here, Genie. Having done that myself Tuesday, I can tell you with 100 percent certainty, you really don't want to do that. Trust me. But if you want to deliver tea and snacks to those in the queue, or even to people who formerly waited -- cough, cough -- I'm sure that would be appreciated.

          And, in other Genie news, one of the ballboys during her match on Tuesday was suffering from a wardrobe malfunction. I'm sure this series of tweets will not scar him for life or anything.

          Many Americans have struggled in finding a team to root for at the World Cup this year due to the U.S. team not qualifying. But Madison Keys is no such American.

          In fact, the 23-year-old is cheering for and has been enjoying every moment of it. During England's dramatic win over Colombia on Tuesday night, Keys watched with England native and tennis star Laura Robson.

          "She was singing the 'It's coming home' song consistently for, like, two and a half hours," Keys said to the media after her second-round win against Luksika Kumkhum on Wednesday. "Where I am in [Wimbledon] Village I can hear the Rose & Crown [pub]. My TV was ahead of theirs, so something would happen and Laura would scream, and then, like, five seconds later the whole pub would scream."

          Keys and Robson are, of course, not the only players at Wimbledon engulfed in World Cup fever. Robson's fellow countryman Kyle Edmund is equally invested in the team -- but has some extra motivation for Saturday's quarterfinal clash against Sweden. His coach, Fredrik Rosengren, is from the Nordic nation.

          This should make for an interesting few days for the pair.

          Victoria Azarenka lost in the second round on Wednesday against No. 7 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-3. However, her Wimbledon dreams aren't totally over just yet. It was announced earlier in the day that the two-time Grand Slam champion would be teaming up with Jamie Murray in mixed doubles.

          Murray looks to defend his Wimbledon title, which he won last season with the now-retired Martina Hingis. He was planning on focusing solely on doubles during the fortnight, but when he heard Azarenka was looking for a partner, he just couldn't say no. Can you blame him?

          Azarenka, for her part, told reporters she was most looking forward to the crowd support. "I'm very much looking forward to have English people on our side," she said with a smile. "And being hopefully a crowd favorite for the first time in England."

          We are now through three days at Wimbledon, and there has yet to be a Meghan Markle sighting. However, Leonard Fournette, who is probably as close to royalty as the city of Jacksonville, Florida, will ever have, was on hand at the All England Club on Wednesday. The Jaguars running back was spotted all over the grounds throughout the day taking in multiple matches. He chatted with ESPN's Tom Rinaldi about attending his first Wimbledon and his fandom of Serena Williams and Roger Federer.

          He also met up with Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, and, if this picture is any indication, they are already best friends.

          While Fournette was a wanted guest, Wimbledon was also plagued by an unwanted one -- err, thousands, in fact. During Ekaterina Makarova's upset win against Caroline Wozniacki, the court was overcome by flying ants. The two were both spotted swatting away the pesky insects, and Wozniacki even asked the chair umpire for bug repellent.

          Apparently, there is a day every summer oh-so-creatively called "Flying Ant Day," and Wednesday was that day, as it turns out. There is a scientific reason for it and it has to do with a queen ant starting a new colony, but I'll spare you the gross details.

          While Wozniacki later said the ants did not affect her play, it was clear she wasn't happy about their presence.

          On that note, sweet dreams, everyone. DON'T LET THE FLYING ANTS BITE.