Wimbledon, England – Venus Williams dominated her fourth-round match against Maria Sharapova, advancing to the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over the 2004 champion in a two-day match that included a nearly two-hour rain delay today.
Despite wasting seven break points in the third game of the second set, three-time champion Williams broke in the seventh and ninth games to advance at the All England Club.
“In my whole life I’ve been a big-match player,” Williams said. “I always believe in my game. I know I have a lot of stuff others players don’t have.” Williams had 19 break points in the match, converting four of them. Sharapova failed to even earn a break point, and only pushed Williams to deuce once on the American’s serve.
“The serve definitely was a weapon,” Williams said.
Sharapova said her opponent’s serve made the difference.
“That put a little extra pressure on my serve,” the second-seeded Russian said. “Even though I didn’t serve that bad in the second set, she just was on top of it.” After Sharapova sent a forehand into the net on match point, Williams smiled and waved to the crowd while her father, Richard, stood with his arms raised in celebration.
The match started Tuesday afternoon, but only three points were played before rain forced suspension. Early in the second set, Williams and Sharapova had to wait through another rain delay that lasted nearly two hours.
“I don’t know if it was the wind or a slow start. She got off to a fast start,” Sharapova said. “I just didn’t feel really comfortable in the first set.” The rain at Wimbledon this year has caused stoppages and postponements on eight of the tournament’s nine days.
In the quarterfinals, Williams will face 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
No. 18 Marion Bartoli became the first player to reach the semifinals, beating No. 31 Michaella Krajicek 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The 22-year-old Bartoli, who won her only three WTA titles last year, reached the fourth round at the French Open for her previous best performance at a Grand Slam. Krajicek is the younger sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek.
Serena Williams, who overcame a calf strain in her previous match, was playing top-ranked Justine Henin in the quarterfinals.
