Venus Williams, seeded 23rd, beat second seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 without any major problems.

The first set was quite boring, the 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova made five double faults, twelve unforced errors, and not to mention her first serve percentage (58%).

In the second set the Russian played much better, but it was not good enough to defeat the three-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams. Sharapova had difficulty holding her serve, while Williams did that easily.

The third game of the second set, Sharapova’s serving game, was the most interesting part of the match – it lasted as much as 22.5 minutes, and Sharapova managed to hold her serve. However, Williams broke Sharapova in the seventh game of the second set, and from that point on her victory came very quickly.

All in all, I had expected a lot more excitement from this match.

Venus Williams will next face fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who defeated Tamira Paszek in the fourth round.

Share This

Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia ensured her third appearance in a Wimbledon quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria. Kuznetsova was too strong for young Paszek who had defeated two seeds in her Wimbledon debut.

The Russian now faces the challenge of a former champion in the form of either Venus Williams or Sharapova in the quarter-finals.

Share This

In a match interrupted by rain four times (why am I even mentioning this, it goes without saying) sixth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia defeated eleventh seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 2-6 6-4.

"Mentally it was very tough, with lots of stops and ups and down in my game. I had to fight for every point and I hope to have the chance to play better tomorrow," said the 19-year-old Ivanovic.

Ivanovic will next face Nicole Vaidisova who beat the defending champion Amelie Mauresmo earlier in the day. (via BBC Sport)

Share This

One of the favorites for the title, third seed Jelena Jankovic, failed to progress to the quarterfinals falling to 18th seed Marion Bartoli 6-3 5-7 3-6.

Jankovic has been the form player of 2007 but faltered in the final set, dropping serve three times. Desperate, she even screamed: “Could I play any worse?!”

After the match Bartoli said: "I think at the end I was a little physically stronger than her, she didn't know really what tactic to play against me out there." Read more »

Share This

Nicole Vaidisova advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time in her career with a fantastic 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-1 victory over the defending champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Mauresmo had defeated Vaidisova twice in their previous four meetings, but note that every time their matches reach three sets Vaidisova has been the one to win.

Fourth seed Mauresmo had been exhibiting the form that led her to title last season, but today’s match against the Czech fourteenth seed was a completely different story – the French made fourteen double faults and over half of her fifty net approaches were unsuccessful.

Nicole Vaidisova will next face sixth seed Ana Ivanovic, the last month’s Roland Garros finalist, who has just defeated eleventh seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 2-6 6-4. (via On the Baseline)

Share This