Williams is too sharp for Sharapova

Williams served superbly and came out on top in a battle of thunderous groundstrokes to seal a 6-1 6-3 victory in less than an hour and book a quarter-final clash with another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The victory could easily have been even more emphatic, Williams winning just four of her 19 break points, but it was clear to see why her father Richard was jumping for joy in the players' box after a command performance.

The match has been moved to court three on Tuesday in an attempt to get back on schedule, but just three points were played before a thunderstorm forced the players off court. Back on Centre Court on Wednesday afternoon, Williams coped better with a swirling wind to break serve in the fourth game, Sharapova serving four double faults as she struggled with her ball toss.

In contrast, Williams then thumped down a serve at 126mph in the next game, just 2mph slower than she managed in the French Open recently - the fastest recorded serve in a women's tour main-draw match. Another break of serve then allowed Williams to serve out and take the set 6-1, moving a step closer to joining her sister Serena in the quarter-finals.

Sharapova had won three of the four previous matches between the pair, but Williams' sole win came on grass in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2005. Sharapova was fighting desperately just to stay in the match, saving five break points in an epic third game of the second set before yet more rain forced the players off court.

Play resumed shortly before 4pm, a delay of almost two hours, but that had no effect on the intensity of the incomplete third game.

In total there were 13 deuces, a 22-point rally which featured more shrieking than a Take That concert and Sharapova saved seven break points before Williams eventually dumped a smash into the net to give the Russian a hard-earned 2-1 lead.

That game lasted 22 minutes but Williams was serving so well she needed just two minutes to level the scores and attack the Sharapova serve once more, the second seed saving two more break points.

It was only a matter of time before the pressure would tell however, and Williams finally broke to love in the seventh game and again in the ninth to seal a convincing 6-1 6-3 victory which will have the rest of the women's contenders sitting up and taking notice.