WTA

• Venus rolls into Wimbledon semifinals

  
  

  Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Venus Williams continued her quest for a third straight Wimbledon title with a straight-set victory over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in quarterfinal play Tuesday at the All England Club.

  Williams, the third seed and a five-time winner on the famed grass courts of the London suburb, cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph in a mere 68 minutes. The seven-time Grand Slam champ has yet to drop a set in her five matches this fortnight.

  There was not much drama for Williams, who won the first six points on the way to a 5-0 lead in the first set. Radwanska, the 11th seed, finally held serve in the sixth game, but Williams quickly put it away in the next game with an ace on set point.

  The total domination in a 27-minute first set included four aces for Williams and 14 total winners. Radwanska had just three winners and won only two points against Williams' serve.

  That quickly changed early in the second set, as Radwanska won eight of the first nine points to open a quick 2-0 lead. Williams, who double-faulted to give Radwanska a break in the second game, broke right back in the third and held serve to level the set.

  Williams broke serve again for a 3-2 lead, winning a marathon fifth game with a brilliant point at the net, and Radwanska never recovered. The American finished the match with a perfectly-placed forehand winner.

  Next up for Williams will be the winner between top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina and German upstart Sabine Lisicki.

  Two other quarterfinal matches are scheduled for Tuesday, as second-seeded Serena Williams will take on eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva will square off against Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

  The Williams sisters have combined for seven of the last nine Wimbledon crowns, with Venus capturing five and Serena two. The two met last year in the championship match, a 7-5, 6-4 victory for Venus. Both of Serena's titles at the All England Club came in finals against her sister in 2002 and 2003.

  06/30 09:38:18 ET