Venus Williams breezes into fourth round at a canter

Jun 29 2008 By Gavin Berry

DAZZLING defending champion Venus Williams breezed into the fourth round with a straight sets canter over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez - and did it in record-breaking style.

The four-time winner of the famous Venus Rosewater Dish smashed down the fastest serve by a woman at Wimbledon.

Williams' 127 mph ace came on match point and the win keeps her on course for another title at the All England Club.

The seventh seed made light work of her Spanish opponent on Court One and it took her little over an hour to claim a 6-1 7-5 success against the qualifier.

Sanchez picked up her game in the second set and even broke the American.

But the outcome was never in doubt and Williams' stunning finish put the seal on an impressive display.

The champ said: "It's good for me because without the power I get a lot closer to average.

"The power and movement - and obviously with my strokes - adds a ton to my game.

"It's a real blessing and 127mph was a good way to end it. I was happy with that.

"The first set was pretty clean then in the second Maria Jose changed her strategy.

"She started playing better and played aggressively to get the break back after I'd broken her. But I was happy she put some pressure on because I had good answers."

After making it through to the third round without dropping a set against her two British opponents this looked like being another easy ride for Williams.

And that's exactly what it turned out to be against Martinez Sanchez, 25, Spain's sole representative in the women's draw.

Williams had beaten Martinez Sanchez once before - seven years ago in a tough three-setter at the Australian Open.

But the early indications were this wouldn't be nearly so close.

Williams got into her stride quickly after breaking her rival's serve twice and holding her own three service games to race into a 5-0 lead.

Martinez Sanchez put up little fight and the fact she screamed with delight simply at winning single points showed the gulf in class - and the crowd applauded almost in sympathy.

But by the time she won her first game - the sixth of the first set - it was already well out of her reach and Williams took it 6-1 in less than half an hour.

Martinez Sanchez held serve in the first game of the second set and it looked like she was only delaying the inevitable when Williams broke her in the second game.

To the Spaniard's credit she tried to make a fist of it by breaking back.

But she couldn't hold out for a tie break - double faulting in the 11th game on her serve - and Williams closed it out.