Venus Williams too strong for Kleybanova in predictable battle on court Two at Wimbledon

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Williams set about her task with brisk efficiency and her world-ranked 42 opponent seldom showed signs of rising to the occasion as she struggled to maintain parity with her opponent's searing ground-strokes.

Kleybanova, at 18 the youngest player left in the women's draw, fought out the early portion of the first set unscathed before a catastrophic service game with three double faults and a spooned backhand saw her broken for 5-3.

Emphatic: Venus Williams blasts a return against Alisa Kleybanova at Wimbledon

Williams duly served out to take the first set and from that moment the result was never in doubt. In front of a half-full and often only half-interested grandstand, Williams duly broke twice for a 4-0 lead in the second set.

Despite the air of gnawing certainty, Kleybanova bravely rallied, not only breaking Williams back once when she served for the match for the first time, but fashioning three points for an improbable double-break back.

Williams, however, held her nerve, pulling herself out of her hole and taking advantage of her second match point, a backhand stop volley at the net finally sending her back into the quarter-finals.