Williams through to last eight

Serena Williams set up a potential quarter-final clash with reigning champion Justine Henin at the French Open after steamrolling past Dinara Safina in straight sets on Sunday.

Williams, the eighth seed, produced her best performance of the tournament so far in winning 6-2 6-3 on Philippe Chatrier court in an hour and 16 minutes.

Henin will join Williams, the 2002 winner here, in the last eight if she beats Austria's Sybille Bammer on Suzanne Lenglen court later today.

Williams was in unforgiving mood throughout, but especially in the first set, which she won in 36 minutes.

She went 4-0 ahead after breaking Safina, seeded 10, twice and holding her own serve with relative comfort.

After the Russian claimed her first game, Williams found herself 30-0 down on her own serve in the sixth, but won four points in a row to take it.

The American number one set up two set points in the seventh with some thunderous passing shots, but her backhand then misfired as she squandered the opportunity. Safina regrouped to hold.

But it was a temporary reprieve as Williams claimed the set in the eighth game, on her third set point.

She began the second set in a similar vein, breaking her opponent to love, but was then broken - for the first time in the match - by Safina.

The next two games went with serve, before the two players shared breaks in what was proving to be a hard-fought, fluctuating set.

A determined Williams stepped up the pace though, winning four straight points on the Safina serve to go 4-3 up and then holding with ease to go to the brink of victory.

A Safina error on Williams' first match point gifted the win to the American.

Precocious teenager Nicole Vaidisova, the sixth seed, also made her way into the quarter-finals by thrashing Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-3 6-1 on Court 1.

The Czech Republic prodigy, 17, will play either Jelena Jankovic or Marion Bartoli in the last eight.

In the bottom half of the draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded three, was a straight-sets winner over Shahar Peer on Court 1.

Russia's Kuznetsova, the runner-up here last year, came into the match having never beaten the Israeli before, but she prevailed 6-4 6-3 to clinch a quarter-final place.

She struggled to finish the game off though, seeing her 5-0 lead in the second set reduced to 5-3, before claiming victory with the first of her match points in the ninth game.

She will play either Ana Ivanovic, seeded seven, or Anabel Medina Garrigues in the last eight.

Henin, the top seed, set up the quarter-final with Williams by sealing a patchy 6-2 6-4 victory over Bammer.

The Belgian, looking to claim her third straight title at Roland Garros, triumphed in an hour and 24 minutes against the Austrian left-hander.

After a one-sided first set, Henin went 4-0 up in the second before Bammer threatened a comeback.

She won four games on the trot, the fourth seeing her come back from 0-40 down on Henin's serve to take it. But there was to be no miracle recovery.

Henin broke Bammer in the ninth game and then held, after squandering two match points, to claim the victory and maintain her record of not dropping a set this championship.