Venus avenges sister's loss, sweeps Craybas

WIMBLEDON, England -- Two Williams sisters turned out to be one too many for Jill Craybas.

Stung by younger sister Serena's loss at Wimbledon, two-time champion Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals Monday by beating Craybas 6-0, 6-2.

Craybas upset Serena in the third round, then returned less than 48 hours later to the same stage -- cozy Court 2, known as the Graveyard of Champions. This time Craybas lost the first six games and the last six.

"It's probably a really big challenge mentally to play Serena and me in a row," Venus said. "I guess I had a good position to be second sister."

In the past six years, the sisters have lost to the same player at only three Grand Slam events. Averting such a sweep was motivation, Venus said.

"A little bit for my sister," she said, "but mostly for me."

Defending champion Maria Sharapova, seeded second, never faced a break point and beat No. 16 Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-2. Sharapova was one of four Russian women to reach the final eight, a Grand Slam record.

Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 champion, beat No. 15 Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Clijsters double-faulted three times in the final game, including on match point, then slammed her racket to the grass.

Clijsters also lost to Davenport in the same round at the French Open.

In men's play, two-time defending champion Roger Federer swept No. 23 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6). The next opponent for the top-ranked Swiss will be No. 21 Fernando Gonzalez, the first Chilean to reach the men's quarterfinals since Ricardo Acuna in 1985. Gonzalez defeated No. 31 Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3.

No. 2-seeded Andy Roddick beat No. 15 Guillermo Coria 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-4. Roddick will next play two-time semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean, who beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

"He has proven that he's one of the top five grass-courters in the world," Roddick said. "But I'm playing pretty well. I feel confident."

No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt defeated No. 24-seeded Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. Hewitt, the 2002 champion, will next play No. 26 Feliciano Lopez, the first Spaniard to reach the men's quarterfinals since Manuel Orantes in 1972. Lopez beat No. 10 Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

The second week of the tournament began with sunny, 75-degree weather and a victory by Mary Pierce, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time in nine years by beating Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1. She'll face Williams next.

"She's definitely playing quite well," Williams said. "I'm playing quite well also."

Williams had expected to renew her sibling rivalry with two-time champion Serena, but instead she cruised to an easy victory over Craybas. Venus had 28 winners and just 15 errors and won 13 of 14 points at the net.

"My strategy was to move forward and just to make my shots," she said. "Serena rushed some shots and I wanted just to go out there and make mine."

When she closed the win with her fourth ace, Williams grinned, hopped, twirled and waved to the crowd. Serena wasn't part of the audience -- father Richard said she flew home.

Venus, seeded 14th, is seeking her fifth major title and her first since the 2001 U.S. Open.

"She was really fired up," said Craybas, slowed by a strained stomach muscle. "She definitely has a chance to win the tournament. It's always an option, for her to win it."

Despite the defeat, Craybas, 30, enjoyed the best Grand Slam showing of her career. The win over Serena was her first against a top-10 player and advanced her to the fourth round at a major for the first time.

Ranked 85th, Craybas was the first player to knock Serena out of a Grand Slam tournament in the first week since 1999. The last time Serena lost to a player ranked so low was in her second professional match eight years ago.

"It happens to the best of us," Venus said.

Sharapova extended her grass-court winning streak to 21 matches. She has lost just 17 games in four rounds and said she still enjoys tennis despite higher expectations since winning last year's tournament.

"It's still a lot of fun," said Sharapova, 18. "I enjoy every single match. I love being out there. I love competing, especially here."

Sharapova, broken only once in 33 service games, will next play No. 8 Nadia Petrova, who beat Kveta Peschke 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-3.

No. 9 Anastasia Myskina overcame two match points in the second set and won her third three-setter in four rounds, beating fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 1-6, 7-6 (9), 7-5. Myskina's next opponent will be No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo, a two-time semifinalist, who defeated No. 13 Elena Likhovtseva for the fifth time in a row, 6-4, 6-0.

U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded fifth, celebrated her 20th birthday by beating Magdalena Maleeva 6-4, 6-3.

No. 12 Pierce, runner-up to Justine Henin-Hardenne at the French Open, lost only 10 points on serve and never faced a break point. Pennetta, playing in the fourth round at a major event for the first time, had just 11 winners and 33 unforced errors.

No. 18 David Nalbandian, the runner-up in 2002, eliminated No. 27 Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-0. Gasquet, 19, was the last teenager in the men's draw.

Nalbandian will next play 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, seeded 12th, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time by defeating Max Mirnyi 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.