Calm before the storm

Williams,playing in the day on Monday when the wind was blowing hard,breezed past Serbias Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-4 to close in on what could be the greatest achievement of her career. Its really important for me just to look at the mountain and keep climbing it, said Williams.

Wozniacki won a late-night thriller against former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-7 7-5 6-1,dispelling the notion that she lacks the predatory instincts to land her first major. Facing an early exit after losing the first set in a tiebreaker then falling behind 4-1 in the second,she won 12 of the last 14 games and looked as fit at the end as she did at the start.

I could have played another two or three sets if I had to, the top seed said. Her next match is against Germanys Andrea Petkovic,who defeated Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-1 6-4,with Williams looming in the semis.

Tsonga survives scare

The floodlit evening session was delayed by more than an hour and a half after 11th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed almost four hours to beat American eighth seed Mardy Fish 6-4 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-2 in an enthralling center court clash. Tsongas reward is a quarter-final on Wednesday against Federer.

Djokovic also showed his fighting qualities to win a 30-point tiebreaker in his 7-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the last eight without dropping a single set. It was certainly exciting to be part of it but I knew that I needed to win that set, he said.

There were no such problems for Federer,who reached his 30th straight grand slam quarter-final with a breathtaking display that included four aces in a single game. I played very well, the Swiss said. So its up to me now to get on a good run for the end of the tournament.

Williamss ability to overcome adversity has helped make her the finest player of her era,and among the best of all time,but when doctors found a life-threatening blood clot on her lungs in March,winning the U.S. Open was the last thing on the Americans mind. Yet here she is,riding high on emotion and with momentum building behind her. I think Id like to say its a bigger mountain like Everest 8230;but I dont ever want to get to the top of the mountain. I want to keep being able to reach something, she said.

Williamss next opponent is Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,who avenged her agonising loss to Italys Francesca Schiavone at this years French Open to win 5-7 6-3 6-4. It was sweet revenge for Pavlyuchenkova after she blew her chance of a first Grand Slam semi-finals appearance when she lost to Schiavone in the quarters at Roland Garros after leading 6-1 4-1. Of course I was thinking about it, Pavlyuchenkova said. But it made me stronger I think.

Djokovics next opponent is his Davis Cup team mate Janko Tipsarevic,who beat former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-5 6-7 7-5 6-2 in a slugfest that lasted almost four hours. It means theres going to be at least one Serbian in the semi-finals,which is great for our country, Djokovic said.

Lee-Hesh advance

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the quarterfinals of the mens doubles with a straight-set victory over compatriot Somdev Devvarman and his Filipino partner Treat Conrad Huey.

The fourth seeded Indian pair prevailed over Somdev and Treat 6-4,7-5 in an hour and 32 minutes.

Paes and Bhupathi will now face sixth seeded Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the quarters. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski defeated British duo Jaime Delgado and Jonathan Marray 6-7 5-7,6-2,6-3 to enter the last eight.

Somdev and Treat had their moments in the game as the duo troubled the Indian pair with their aces but a series of unforced errors and failure to convert as many as five breakpoints put paid to their hopes.

Lee-Hesh,on the other hand,stayed away from unforced errors and converted two break points out of the seven that came their way. They also hit 37 winners compared to the 30 sent down by Somdev and Treat.

Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi are also in the quarterfinals and will take on unseeded British pair of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins for a place in the semifinals.