Myskina hits back to reach last eight

Anastasia Myskina’s Wimbledon fortunes took a turn for the better this afternoon when the Russian number nine seed booked her place in the last eight at the All England Club.

The 2004 French Open champion had never been past the fourth round here, and had looked less than impressive on the grass as she edged through her previous encounters, needing three sets in each and taking the decider 10-8 against Jelena Jankovic last time out.

It went to the wire again today against sixth seeded fellow Russian Elena Dementieva – whom Myskina beat in Roland Garros.

Dementieva cruise through the first set in just 22 minutes before the 23-year-old former world number one battled back to win 1-6 7-6 7-5, saving two match points against her along the way.

The number nine seed will now face Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals.

The Frenchwoman booked her place in the last eight of Wimbledon for the third time after recovering from a slow start to beat Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-4 6-0 on Court One.

The third seeded Frenchwoman – who reached the last four at the All England Club 12 months ago – had not dropped a set going into today’s encounter, at the loss of just 11 games.

However, Mauresmo looked somewhat sluggish as she opened up the match with a series of uncharacteristic wild strokes, which saw her lose her serve to trail 2-0 and then 4-2.

The world number three, though, soon regained her composure to secure to breaks of her own and close out the set.

Another early break put her in command, before Mauresmo complete her straight-sets victory in just over an hour.

“The beginning of the match was a little bit tough for me,” reflected the number three seed.

“Maybe the two days off were a bit too much. I could not really find my rhythm.”

She added: “It is tough matches now anyway, against opponents that obviously feel pretty comfortable on the surface so far.

“I guess it’s going to be tomorrow, and that’s fine with me. I like to keep going.”

Defending champion Maria Sharapova continued her progress in the bottom half of the draw as the number two seed beat Nathalie Dechy 6-4 6-2 on Court One to set-up a quarter-final clash against fellow Russian Nadia Petrova, the eighth seed.

Sharapova reflected: “It is different than last year because I was delighted then to reach the second week and now I expect to reach it, but it is still fun out there.”

Petrova made the last four at Roland Garros earlier this year, and the final in Berlin this year – but has never progressed beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon until now after the 23-year-old defeated Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic in three sets, 6-7 7-6 6-3.

Venus Williams, the two-time champion and 14th seed, avenged her sister’s defeat to Jill Craybas in some style.

The American world number 85 had shocked younger Serena on Saturday, but there was never any chance of a repeat of that result on Court Two – the ’graveyard of the seeds’.

Williams raced to a 6-0 6-2 win in just over one hour.

“It was just nice being out there,” she said. “I wanted to play well, just to keep my level rising for each round.”

Williams will meet Mary Pierce, the 12th seeded French Open finalist, in the last eight after she recorded a straight-sets win over Italian Flavia Pennetta.

“She has been playing very well,” said the American. “It should definitely be a good match.”

In the top-half of the draw, number one seed Lindsay Davenport saw off the brave challenge of Belgian Kim Clijsters to advance to the quarter-finals.

The 29-year-old American, champion here in 1999 and now ranked number one in the world, battled to a 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory after one hour and 50 minutes of high-quality tennis on Centre Court.

The world number one’s powerful serve and groundstrokes eventually proved too much for Clijsters, seeded 15, to handle, and Davenport will now face US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last eight after the Russian beat Magdalena Maleeva in straight sets.