Top-seeded Justine Henin of Belgium waited through a one-hour rain delay before defeating number-15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland to claim the first spot in the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.
Henin defeated Schnyder 6-2, 6-2 Monday and will face No. 7 Serena Williams of the United States, who defeated 10th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. The younger Williams sister collapsed and screamed in pain with a strained calf while leading 6-2, 5-5. She received treatment before losing a second set tiebreaker, but a fortuitous rain delay allowed her almost two hours for rest and more treatment before she won in a dominant third set.
In another fourth-round match, 31st-seeded Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated American Laura Granville, 6-3, 6-4.
In women's third round play, fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia topped Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (6-2, 6-3). Her next opponent will be Tamira Paszek of Austria, who upset 12th-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva (3-6, 6-2, 6-3). No. 6 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Aravane Rezai of France (6-3, 6-2) to set up a fourth round clash with 11th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, who beat Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain (6-3, 7-6).
No. 14 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic ousted Victoria Azarenka of Belarus (6-4, 6-2). She next faces defending champion and fourth-seed Amelie Mauresmo of France. American 23rd-seed Venus Williams came back from 5-3 down in the third set to beat Akiko Morigami of Japan, (6-2, 3-6, 7-5). That sets up a fourth-round match with second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova.
In the men's third round, seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic outlasted Hyung-Taik Lee of South Korea, (6-4, 7-6, 7-6), while No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus upended 23rd-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina. Number-14 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia ousted 18th-seeded Jarko Nieminen (7-5, 7-6, 6-3) and 19th-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden eliminated Australian Wayne Arthurs (6-2, 6-1, 6-4).
Two men's matches were postponed when rain caused play to be suspended again late in the day. Second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal leads No. 28 Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 2-0 in the fifth set, while No. 4 Novak Djokovic of Serbia is ahead of Germany's Nicolas Keifer, 7-6, 6-5.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
