Defending champion Venus Williams took the express route into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon as Ana Ivanovic was forced to quit yesterday’s fourth-round match with a thigh injury.
Williams was already well on course for the last eight after taking the first set 6-1 when Ivanovic called for treatment on her left leg during the opening game of the second set.
The Serb, seeded 13th, served out the game, but was unable to carry on and left the court in tears.
PHOTO: EPA
Although it was Ivanovic who eventually succumbed to injury, the day had started with concerns over Venus after her father Richard Williams revealed over the weekend that his daughter’s knee injury was restricting her movement.
The American once again wore a heavy strapping on her left knee, but Williams senior had no need to worry.
Ivanovic wasted three break points in the first game and was punished when she had the temerity to test Venus’ movement with a drop shot in the next game.
PHOTO: AP
The American’s answer was emphatic as she raced to the net and left Ivanovic floundering with a cross-court winner to reach break point.
She converted the break and was 4-0 up in just 19 minutes as Ivanovic wilted in the sweltering conditions on Court 1.
With the first set wrapped up in double quick time, Venus was about to go for the kill when Ivanovic called for treatment on her thigh injury.
The Serb had her thigh strapped and won the first game of the second set, but the pain was too much and she had no choice but to pull out.
Elena Dementieva hardly broke sweat as she cruised into the quarter-finals.
Fourth seed Dementieva, a semi-finalist last year, beat fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-3 in 70 minutes on Court 2.
Vesnina fended off a set point and took the sixth game on a deuce, but there was no stopping the Russian No. 2 on her serve and Dementieva wrapped up the first set inside 29 minutes.
Vesnina, the world No. 37, put up a better fight of it in the second set, holding Dementieva at 2-2 before losing serve.
However, there was no stopping Dementieva, who broke serve again to win the match when her compatriot fired long.
Polish 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, a quarter-finalist last year, also went through in straight sets against American teenager Melanie Oudin.
World No. 124 Oudin, who had to qualify for the main draw, showed plenty of fight, but was eventually overcome 6-4, 7-5.
The Wimbledon debutante, who had salvaged set point on her serve, gifted her opponent the first set when she sent a smash wide.
Radwanska won the second set with three match points to spare to book a quarter-final berth.
Second seed Serena Williams wasted little time in joining sister Venus in the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of unseeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.
Serena Williams never looked in any danger as her superior power in all departments gave Hantuchova minimal options.
She raced to the opening set in just 30 minutes, before Hantuchova’s game folded completely in the second and she clinched victory after just 56 minutes when the Slovak sent a forehand wide.
Victoria Azarenka from Belarus battled her way into the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Nadia Petrova.
The eighth seed, the first woman from Belarus to reach the last eight since Natasha Zvereva in 1998, will have to raise her game to stand a chance against Serena Williams in the last eight.
An abysmal first set was awash with unforced errors, both players losing their serve three times apiece before Azarenka squeaked home 7-5 in a tight tie-break.
Petrova, treated at the end of the set with ice packs to counteract the heat, came back with all guns blazing to level the match, but could not maintain the pressure in the decider and Azarenka wrapped it up after 2 hours, 25 minutes.
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