Wimbledon 2015: Sharapova & Venus Williams into fourth round

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova battled into the last 16 at Wimbledon as she defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-3.

Sharapova, the 2004 champion, broke her Romanian opponent in the 10th game of the opening set on Court One.

The Russian led 5-0 in the second set and held off a fightback to set up a match with unseeded Zarina Diyas.

Venus Williams reached the fourth round for the first time since 2011, while there were also wins for Lucie Safarova and Eastbourne champion Belinda Bencic.

The 18-year-old Swiss player is into the last 16 for the first time as she beat American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-5 7-5.

Czech sixth seed Safarova, the beaten French Open finalist, came from one set down to beat American Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Australia's 22nd seed Samantha Stosur lost 6-2 6-0 to unseeded American Coco Vandeweghe, despite winning the first two games of the match.

Belarus's Victoria Azarenka, the 23rd seed, also advanced into the next round, beating France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-4.

'You have to have the belief - I absolutely do'

Irina-Camelia Begu (right) congratulates Maria Sharapova after their match

Sharapova has only made it past the last 16 once in the last eight years but told BBC Sport that she expected a successful tournament this time.

"I made it more difficult for myself in the first set but I felt good in the second set," said Sharapova. "She was not going to go away so I was happy I was able to finish it off.

"You expect to go further and on to better things. As the matches get tougher, you have to raise your game and that's why there's only one champion.

"You have to have the belief and I absolutely do. You don't work all these hours in practice to not believe in yourself. I want to be the winner and I will do my best to do so."

Eastbourne winner into last 16

Belinda Bencic won the junior title at Wimbledon in 2013

Teenager Bencic, seeded 30th, trailed 5-1 in the first set against Mattek-Sands before winning the next six games.

World number 158 Mattek-Sands, who beat seventh seed Ana Ivanovic in the previous round, could not cause another upset as Bencic set up a match against Azarenka next.

An all-Williams last-16 match

Five-time champion Venus Williams lost in the first round of Wimbledon in 2014

Venus Williams, a Wimbledon champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, claimed a routine 6-3 6-2 win over Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic.

The American will now play sister Serena after she beat Great Britain's Heather Watson 6-2 4-6 7-5 in a thrilling match on Centre Court.

That sets up the 26th career meeting between the sisters and the first at a Grand Slam since Serena won in the 2009 Wimbledon final. Overall, Serena leads 14-11.