Jankovic limps, Venus marches to victory

Defending champion Venus Williams advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Defending champion Venus Williams advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Venus dominated the first set, breaking her No. 101-ranked rival twice and finishing it off in 25 minutes. But the Spanish player, into the third round after failing to win a match at seven previous Grand Slams, started to serve and volley in the second.

Venus was a break up before Martinez Sanchez broke back, on her first chance of the match, to level at 4-4 and then saved four break points on her own serve. But Venus won the next three games to clinch it.

Second seeded Jelena Jankovic, meanwhile, hobbled into the fourth round after injuring her knee Saturday and is a doubtful starter for her next match at Wimbledon.

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Jankovic faced a break point in the second set after comprehensively losing the first and it seemed Wimbledon was about to become the first Grand Slam of the Open era when the top three seeded women’s players failed to make it to the fourth round. Jankovic held off 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, despite slipping and hyper-extending her left knee in the first set.

In the men’s section, Briton Andy Murray reached Round of 16 after beating Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. He now faces flamboyant Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who beat Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3.