Wimbledon 2019: Andy Murray and Serena Williams into round three of mixed doubles with straight sets victory

'Murena' - the nickname chosen by Williams - dominated Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo to win 7-5 6-3 in front of a thrilled Centre Court crowd.

They have proved that their super coupling is much more than just a gimmick and are firm contenders for the title, even if they do play top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar in the next round.

Williams, fresh from her quarter-final win over Alison Riske in the singles, was the star of the show, peppering winners from all angles on the baseline.

Alongside Murray's serving and cuteness at the net, it is a potent mix, and that is even before taking their competitive spirit into account.

That was evidenced in the opening game as Williams, back on court after just over two hours away, showed she was in the mood by swatting a volley straight at Martin, which wiped the Frenchman out on game point.

See also: Konta hits out at press after exit

Unlike Nick Kyrgios last week when he did similar to Rafael Nadal, Williams was profuse in her apologies and everyone was left smiling.

The first seven games all comfortably went on serve, until two Murray winners off Atawo's delivery forced break points, but the French-American pairing held off to level at 4-4.

More break points - and set points - went begging on Martin's next service game, but 'Murena' eventually took their chance as Williams claimed the first set with a searing forehand winner.

Murray had to fend off some break points in the opening game of the second set before Williams began to take centre stage, defying physics with some of the angles of her winners.

That helped them take the serve of Martin, who had earlier fired a 133mph serve down, to surge into a 3-0 lead in the second set.

Williams continued to fire from the baseline, which allowed Murray to serve it out and he sealed victory with an ace.

Henri Kontinen and John Peers earned a slice of history in the men's doubles as they won the first ever final-set tie-breaker.

The new rule was brought in this year to avoid deciding set marathons at the All England Club, prompted by the 2018 men's semi-final which Kevin Anderson won 26-24 in the last against John Isner.

It has taken until the eighth day for a match to go to 12-12 in the final set, but finally the wait ended in the men's doubles second round.

Kontinen and Peers were the victors and wrote their names into the history books, as deadlocked at 12-12, they produced a fine tie-break performance to get the better of British hope Joe Salisbury and his partner Rajeev Ram, winning 7-6 (2) 6-4 3-6 4-6 13-12 (2).

Jamie Murray and his American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands were looking to reach the third round of the mixed doubles but were knocked out by third seeds Mate Pavic and Gabriela Dabrowski.

The match had been suspended on Monday evening with Pavic and Dabrowski leading 4-3 in the final set and they needed only two games to complete a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory.

Murray won the mixed-doubles title in 2017 with Martina Hingis and was runner-up alongside Victoria Azarenka last year.

British wild cards Evan Hoyt and Eden Silva continued their fine run in the mixed by reaching the quarter-finals.

The lowly-ranked duo have made impressive progress through the draw and they defeated Belgian Joran Vliegen and Zheng Saisai of China 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-4.

Hoyt, a 24-year-old from Llanelli, is enjoying his first taste of SW19.

"It's an amazing first experience of senior Wimbledon," Hoyte said.

"If someone had told me I'd be in the quarter-finals of mixed doubles, I'd have jumped at the opportunity. It's still sinking in but I'm just enjoying the process."

Related Wimbledon 2019 links

• Click here for printable men's draw PDF
• Latest Wimbledon odds
• Full women's quarter-final review
• Konta hits back after QF exit