Serena, Venus hit Wimbledon quarters

Six-time champion Serena Williams overcame a first-set blip to reach Wimbledon’s last eight with a straight-sets win over Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Williams, 34, defeated the Russian 7-5 6-0 to set up a quarter-final tie with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Kuznetsova failed to serve out the first set and before rain halted play the top seed was far from her best.

But under the Centre Court roof, Williams was supreme, winning eight games on the trot to secure victory.

From trailing 3-1, two-time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova twice broke Williams’ serve for a chance to serve for the set, but the defending champion immediately broke back to level at 5-5 before play was suspended because of light rain.

When the players returned to the court the roof had been closed and the indoor conditions favoured Williams’ big serve, with Kuznetsova failing to win a game as the world number one confidently secured the first set and, without further loss of a game, the match.

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“She has played really well against me in the past and beat me earlier this year so I knew I had to play well to win,” Williams told BBC Sport.

Joining the defending champion in the last eight is her sister Venus, the five-time champion.

She beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on Court One to progress to the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time since 2010.

The 36-year-old, who last won the title at SW19 in 2008, lost her opening two service games to trail 3-0 but fought back to take the first set to a tie-break, which she led 4-2 before rain stopped play.

When the match resumed the American confidently wrapped up the tie-break and claimed the second set to take the match after an hour and 35 minutes.

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