Wimbledon 2016: Madison Keys survives Kirsten Flipkens to advance

But she managed to nip the Flipkens comeback in the bud and will face Italy’s 20th seed Sara Errani or Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the next round.

Keys boasts the kind of destructive weapons ideally suited to grass, particularly a first serve that three-times Wimbledon champion Chris Evert describes as a match for the booming delivery of world number one Serena Williams.

It was not at its best against Flipkens, however, and she dropped serve three times in the match, although the 34 groundstroke winners she crunched kept her largely in control.

She suffered some jitters in the third set, missing a backhand on match point when serving at 5-1 and dropped serve.

When world number 51 Flipkens held to trail 3-5 an unlikely comeback looked possible, but Keys kept calm and sealed victory when she forced her opponent into an error.

Keys, one of 18 Americans in the women’s singles draw, arrived at Wimbledon having won the grasscourt warmup event in Birmingham — a second career title and a second on grass that propelled her into the top 10 for the first time.

Fellow American Sloane Stephens, who burst on to the scene before Keys but has seen her career level off, is a round back after the 18th seed won a rain-delayed first round against China’s Peng Shuai.