July 01, 2008

VENUS and Serena Williams have edged closer to another Wimbledon final showdown but the sisters found themselves upstaged by the exploits of two unheralded players from Asia.

For the first time in Wimbledon history there will be two Asians in the quarter-finals of the women's singles after Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn, who sent No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic packing, was joined in the last eight by Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie.

Zheng followed up her defeat of No.1 seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round by demolishing No.15 seed Agnes Szavay from Hungary 6-3 6-4, and she will fancy her chances of continuing her run against her next opponent, the No.18 seed Nicole Vaidisova from the Czech Republic.

Zheng and Tamarine also find themselves in the first grand slam quarter-finals draw of the open era without the top four seeds after Svetlana Kuznetsova joined Ivanovic, Jankovic and No.3 seed Maria Sharapova in the queue of stars humbled at the All England Club.

Agnieszka Radwanska, the No.14 seed from Poland, defeated No.4 seed Kuznetsova from Russia 6-4 1-6 7-5 to set up a quarter-final against Serena Williams.

Elena Dementieva, at No.5 the highest seed left in the women's draw, breezed into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Israel's Shahar Peer.

Despite making the greater number of unforced errors, the 26-year-old Russian, who made the last eight at the All England Club for the first and only time two years ago, dominated from the start, breaking the No.24 seed at either end of the first set.

For Tamarine, who next plays four-time champion Venus Williams, it was a case of ninth time lucky as she took advantage of Jankovic's struggles with a knee injury to end a run of eight defeats in last-16 matches at grand slam tournaments.

Her 6-3 6-2 victory saw the 31-year-old become the first Thai to reach a grand slam quarter-final, and the achievement was reflected in the tears of joy she wept on Court 18.

"It is great for Asian tennis that Zheng Jie and myself have both made the quarter-finals," she said. "It shows we can produce great tennis and you don't have to be two metres tall or something like that."

Jankovic arrived with a bandage on her left leg, a legacy of her third-round win over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, and the injury clearly limited her.

Her movement was never as fluid as she would have liked and it seemed to sap her morale. She constantly flexed the leg between points and cried out in frustration as Tamarine took control.

Jankovic is renowned for her ferocious ground strokes but Tamarine was able to out-hit her time and again.

The Serb was anything but gracious in defeat.

Told before the match that she was playing “a Thai girl'' in the last 16, Jankovic replied “Tiger who? Tiger Woods?".

"Quite solid," was all she offered post-match in praise of Tamarine's performance, despite her opponent also having to struggle with an injury, to her back.

Venus and Serena Williams meanwhile emerged unscathed from her respective trips to Court No.2, the famous "graveyard of champions", and they were left fuming over scheduling that they clearly regarded as a snub, in particular for defending champion Venus, who is gunning for her fifth singles title at the All England Club.

Venus moved moved a step closer to that objective by beating fast-rising Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-3 before expressing surprise that organisers had not found space on Centre Court or Court No.1 for herself or Serena, who eased past fellow American Bethanie Mattek 6-3 6-3.

"There is not too much I am going to say about that in the press," Venus said with a glare that left no one in the audience with any doubt as to her true feelings.

"Obviously we know wherever we play we have to play well, and that is pretty much all I'm going to say about that."

But Williams agreed with a suggestion that men's champion Roger Federer or his main rival, Rafael Nadal, would not have to put up with similar treatment.

"You said it," she said. "It is true."

Serena added: "I do think it is weird, especially for the defending female champion who has won the tournament four times.

"I have only won twice - but, hey, that is not so bad."

One of the reasons put forward for the high number of upsets on Court No.2 is that the surface is allegedly less even than on the bigger show courts. But Serena said she was more unsettled by the proximity of the crowd.

"I'm actually really tall, so I feel a little cramped," she said.

"There is a lot of back (on the court), but there is less side."

But men's world No.1 Roger Federer suggested women complaining about biased treatment should just get on with playing tennis.

"It's the club who decides in the end ... we have to accept the fact," Federer said.

Serena said she had not been offered any explanation as to why she and her sister, the biggest names left in the women's draw, had been "banished" from the show courts.

"I guess that is a question best addressed to the All England Club," she said.

"Initially I did think maybe there was a mistake. But at the end of the day, I've got to focus on winning my match."