Serena sprints through
Serena Williams produced some customary big hitting to wrap up a convincing 6-3 6-1 victory over Daniela Hantuchova and take her place in the last eight at Wimbledon.
The two-time champion was troubled just once on her serve, but quickly recovered to see off her Slovakian opponent in just 56 minutes on Court Two.
Second-seeded Williams looked strong in the early stages of the opening set and found herself a break up in game four thanks to a double fault from Hantuchova.
But the American struggled in her next service game and Hantuchova, a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, immediately claimed the break back with a perfect backhand.
The arrival of Williams’ family, who had been on Court One watching sister Venus, seemed to give the second seed a lift though, and some huge forehands saw her break once more in game six.
Another break quickly followed to bring an end to the first set, with world number 32 Hantuchova unable to find an answer to Williams’ powerful groundstrokes.
Williams was in control now and raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set, making it seven games on the trot for the American.
Hantuchova managed to get on the scoreboard in game five but it was too little too late for the Slovakian, who had wilted under the pressure.
Williams also held serve and then broke again in game seven when Hantuchova sent a forehand wide to clinch the win and a quarter-final meeting with number eight seed Victoria Azarenka.
