June 27, 2008

FOUR-time champion Venus Williams cruised into the last 32 of Wimbledon but fellow former winner Lindsay Davenport limped away from the All England Club, probably never to return.

Defending champion Williams ended British hopes in the women's singles with a 7-5 6-2 win over Anne Keothavong while Davenport never even made it on to court.

The 32-year-old American, the champion in 1999 and runner-up on her last appearance in 2005, handed scheduled opponent Gisela Dulko a walkover after failing to recover from a knee injury which bothered her in the first round.

Despite the disappointing end to her 13th Wimbledon, Davenport is confident of playing at the Beijing Olympics and at the US Open later this year.

"There's two events that I've been wanting to play since I've been back,'' said Davenport, who took a break from the tour to have her first child last year.

"The Olympics were number one. That's on the forefront of my mind. To play in New York another time. After that, I have no plans.''

Women's No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3 and now plays Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki while No.9 seed Dinara Safina followed big brother Marat into the third round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.

Russia's Alisa Kleybanova put out No.10 seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 4-6 6-1.

Dulko, the world No.39, goes on to face either No.5 seed Elena Dementieva or Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland while Williams will tackle Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who put out Indian Sania Mirza, the No.32 seed, 6-0 4-6 9-7.

Mirza lost the first eight games of the second-round tie but recovered well enough to earn four match points in the final set before handing the advantage back to the 25-year-old Spaniard.

Asian honour was rescued by 31-year-old Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn, who produced her best grand slam performance for three years as she stunned Vera Zvonareva, the No.13 seed.

Tamarine, ranked 60th in the world, hadn't reached the last 32 at a major since Wimbledon in 2006, but she was able to end that barren run with a 7-6 (12-10), 4-6 6-3 victory.

Tamarine, who went through qualifying to win the 's-Hertogenbosch grass-court event in Holland last week, next faces New Zealand's Marina Erakovic for a place in the last 16.