Williams sisters win but Henin out

Serena Williams
12 April 2012

Both Williams sisters faced a battle to make the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday as their fellow top-four seeds crashed out.

Defending champion Serena Williams edged past Maria Sharapova after saving three set-points in the opener while sister Venus also needed a tie-break to see off unseeded Australian Jarmila Groth.

Third seed Caroline Wozniacki was dumped out 6-2 6-0 by unseeded Petra Kvitova and fourth seed Jelena Jankovic retired while trailing 6-1 3-0 to Vera Zvonareva. Unsurprisingly, the all-Belgian affair was the tightest fourth-round match - and the only one to go to three sets - with Kim Clijsters coming from behind to beat Justine Henin.

Serena Williams was broken during the first set against Sharapova but went on to win a tie-break 11-9 and produced some crucial winners to edge the second set 6-4.

Her sister beat Groth 6-4 7-6 after twice coming back from breaks in the second set to set up a quarter-final against Tsvetana Pironokova, who beat 11th seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-4.

Clijsters recovered from a poor start to dominate the second set against Henin, who suffered an elbow injury in a heavy fall early in the contest, and retained her edge to win 2-6 6-2 6-3.

The 27-year-old lost to Henin in the last four on her previous Wimbledon appearance in 2006 but she now feels more confident on grass. Clijsters will take on 21st seed Zvonareva after Jankovic pulled out with a back injury as the Russian closed in on victory.

There is certain to be an unseeded contender in the last four after Wozniacki was thrashed by Czech Kvitova, who will play Estonian Kaia Kanepi following her 6-2 6-4 triumph over Klara Zakpalova. Ninth seed Li Na will face Serena Williams in the last eight after a 6-3 6-2 victory over seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

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