Ivanovic to face Venus

LONDON – Venus Williams moved to within two matches of a fourth Wimbledon singles crown after a straight sets win over former US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in her quarter-final yesterday.

The American, who had blown Maria Sharapova off court in her fourth round tie, was in equally imperious form as she beat the Russian fifth seed 6-3, 6-4 to advance to a semi-final meeting with Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic. In contrast, sixth seed Ivanovic, runner-up at last month’s French Open, had to come from a set down and save three match points to squeeze past the Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisova, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.With her younger sister Serena having been eliminated by Justine Henin in the quarter-finals, the 2000, 2001 and 2005 champion Venus is looking like the only player left in the draw with the game to stop world number one Henin from completing a full set of Grand Slam titles here.And the depth of the American’s confidence was underlined by her response to a question about who she regarded as the favourite among the women left in the draw.Going into the match, Kuznetsova had won three of her five meetings with the American, including their most recent meeting, on clay in Warsaw earlier this year.Meanwhile, erasing a two-set deficit despite playing on a fourth consecutive day, Rafael Nadal came back to beat Mikhail Youzhny in five sets yesterday and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.Nadal, the 2006 runner-up, picked up early service breaks in each of the final three sets to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.Youzhny, one of only three players to have beaten Nadal twice in the last year, struggled midway through his match with pain in his lower back.He called for a trainer after losing the third set.Lying on his stomach, the Russian got his lower back massaged.After the fifth game of the fourth set, he was again on the ground with the trainer stretching his back.In the quarterfinals, the second-seeded Spaniard will face No.7 Tomas Berdych, who beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-0.No.10 Marcos Baghdatis, who lost to Nadal in last year’s semifinals, advanced by beating No.6 Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the fourth round.Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic overcame a back injury as well as the famed fighting spirit of former champion Lleyton Hewitt to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in a four-hour thriller yesterday.The 20-year-old clinched a 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) win over the 16th seeded Australian and will take on Cypriot 10th seed Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the semi-final.The defeat was Hewitt’s earliest exit from the All England Club since 2003 when he was a shock first round casualty as defending championNampa-AFP and APIn contrast, sixth seed Ivanovic, runner-up at last month’s French Open, had to come from a set down and save three match points to squeeze past the Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisova, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.With her younger sister Serena having been eliminated by Justine Henin in the quarter-finals, the 2000, 2001 and 2005 champion Venus is looking like the only player left in the draw with the game to stop world number one Henin from completing a full set of Grand Slam titles here.And the depth of the American’s confidence was underlined by her response to a question about who she regarded as the favourite among the women left in the draw.Going into the match, Kuznetsova had won three of her five meetings with the American, including their most recent meeting, on clay in Warsaw earlier this year.Meanwhile, erasing a two-set deficit despite playing on a fourth consecutive day, Rafael Nadal came back to beat Mikhail Youzhny in five sets yesterday and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.Nadal, the 2006 runner-up, picked up early service breaks in each of the final three sets to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.Youzhny, one of only three players to have beaten Nadal twice in the last year, struggled midway through his match with pain in his lower back.He called for a trainer after losing the third set.Lying on his stomach, the Russian got his lower back massaged.After the fifth game of the fourth set, he was again on the ground with the trainer stretching his back.In the quarterfinals, the second-seeded Spaniard will face No.7 Tomas Berdych, who beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (6), 6-0.No.10 Marcos Baghdatis, who lost to Nadal in last year’s semifinals, advanced by beating No.6 Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the fourth round.Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic overcame a back injury as well as the famed fighting spirit of former champion Lleyton Hewitt to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in a four-hour thriller yesterday.The 20-year-old clinched a 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5) win over the 16th seeded Australian and will take on Cypriot 10th seed Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the semi-final.The defeat was Hewitt’s earliest exit from the All England Club since 2003 when he was a shock first round casualty as defending champion Nampa-AFP and AP