Venus tears past Tanasugarn

Defending champion Venus Williams moved another step closer to a potential fifth title with a largely trouble-free 6-4, 6-3 win over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Tanasugarn, fresh from her famous win over Jelena Jankovic, knew she had a mountain to climb in her first Grand Slam quarter-final. She had lost all six of her previous encounters against the seventh seed.

However, the 31-year-old had enough experience - like Williams, this is her 12th Wimbledon - to make a match of it.

The first set lasted just under an hour, a great deal longer than many had anticipated, given that Tanasugarn is not known for boasting either serve or return as her strength. On grass, against someone who loves the surface as much as Williams, the Thai was expected to struggle.

Tanasugarn got off to a heartening start, passing her opponent with a crosscourt backhand in the first rally of the match. That was a game in which she also delivered consecutive double faults, but nonetheless held. By 1-1 she was occasionally producing the kind of rally which got her this far in the tournament.

But she struggled on her own serve, especially with the quality of Williams' return. The Thai put a forehand in the net to give the break for 1-2.

Observers might have expected the set to get away from Tanasugarn horribly fast from there but the world number 60 was having none of it. She returned unexpectedly well to get the break back right away. Exasperated, Williams pounded Tanasugarn into the kind of submission which had been expected all along by breaking her back to love immediately. That made it 3-2.

But it was the next game which was probably pivotal. On six separate occasions (once from a Williams double fault) Tanasugarn held break point. But she could not make the final step and, in the end, Williams' serve functioned at full power to get her out of the hole, including one delivery of 126mph.

Deflated, the Thai saw Williams gain break point for 5-2. It was saved and the scoreline stayed at a very different looking 4-3, but Tanasugarn's task was made still more difficult by the arrival of the new balls. Having held, Venus was hungry to take the final break in order to give her the advantage of serving first in the second set.

But Tanasugarn still would not acquiesce, and she repelled a set point. Then came the moment when she might have broken new territory – a fabulous lob to give Tanasugarn a point for 5-5. In their six previous encounters not only had the Thai never unburdened Venus of a set but she had never been able to get more than four games per set on the scoreboard. But the moment passed. Williams wasted her second set point by putting a forehand in the net, but on the third at last the American controlled the rally to take it.

The assumption was that from here Venus would stretch away. It seemed likely to work out just like that when Williams earned two points for the immediate break. Tanasugarn's second serve could not damage Williams, and it was 0-1. Four points later it was 0-2. Williams had a point for 4-1 with the whole court open for her forehand, yet managed to deposit it in the net.

Tanasugarn kept fighting and had two chances to level it at 3-3 but could not take them. "Come on, Tammy!" the Thai instructed herself fiercely, but her brand of tennis is not made to take on Venus Williams. A bulldozing return from the American brought up two match points. She needed only one.