WIMBLEDON, England -- No. 2 Serena Williams scrambled into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a tight 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) victory over Els Callens.

	Jennifer Capriati eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Third seed Jennifer Capriati muscled the diminutive figure of Czech Daja Bedanova toward the Wimbledon exit with a rugged 6-4, 6-2 victory. Capriati will meet Eleni Danilidou in the fourth round.

Williams, the French Open champion, who had trouble keeping her footing and slipped seven times during the match, was pushed all the way by the Belgian qualifier.

"I'm not playing at all well at this tournament," Williams said afterward. "I actually feel like going out to have some practice now, but hopefully with the doubles match tomorrow I should be okay."

Callens refused to be bullied by the second seed's bludgeoning groundstrokes and constantly wrong-footed Williams with her mix of drop shots, sliced returns and powerful forehands.

"That was the strategy -- to keep her off balance," Callens said. "I had originally thought to play serve and volley, but she is such a good returner I thought I would mix it up.

But Williams, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament, won the crucial points in both tiebreaks and will now meet fellow American Chanda Rubin.

Rubin, making a strong resurgence in her comeback from knee surgery, downed Tatiana Panova in straight sets Friday to become the first player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Rubin swept the Russian 6-4, 6-1 in 56 minutes. It was her sixth straight career win over Panova -- all without dropping a set.

Next into the fourth round was seventh-seeded Jelena Dokic, who beat France's Nathalie Dechy 7-5, 6-2 in the day's opening match on Centre Court.

It's the first time Rubin -- making her 10th appearance at Wimbledon -- has reached the round of 16. She made the third round in 1995 and 1998 but lost in the first round the past three years.

The 26-year-old American underwent surgery on her left knee in January 2001 and again in January of this year, forcing her off the circuit until May.

Rubin reached the fourth round at last month's French Open, losing to Venus Williams, and won last week's grass-court Wimbledon tuneup at Eastbourne.

Rubin could face second-seeded Serena Williams, the French Open champion, in the next round. Williams was due to play Belgium's Ells Callens later Friday.

On the women's side, No. 3 Jennifer Capriati was up against Daja Bedanova.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.