Venus breezes into last 16 at Wimbledon

IF Roger Federer is the undisputed king of Wimbledon then there is little doubt as to who is queen of centre court.

ON A ROLL: Defending champion Venus Williams wastes no time in cruising past Carla Suarez Navarro

Venus Williams was ruthless in her straight sets destruction of Carla Suarez Navarro, and took just 81 minutes to book her place in the last 16.

The victory will come as sweet revenge for Williams, who was unceremonously dumped out of the Australian Open by the unseeded Suarez Navarro in the secound round in January.

Williams stormed into a one-set lead in just 33 minutes, taking a 6-0 lead as Suarez Navarro could not handle to power of the five-time champion and while the Spaniard offer slighty more resistance in the second, Williams was rarely troubled as she served out the second 6-4.

The defending champion will now face Ana Ivanovic in round four, but few would bet against yet another final on the hallowed Wimbledon lawns against sister Serena.

"I felt great out there," she said. "Coming back to Wimbledon is so different every single year but at the moment I'm just where I want to be and I'm loving it.

"I was able to get forward quite a lot today and that is something I've been wanting to work on. At the moment I think this is the perfect level for this stage of the competition.

"I'm really enjoying myself this year. I always do at Wimbledon, it's such a good place to come and I'm just so happy to come through against a very competitive player.

"It was pretty hot out there for British standards but I'm a Florida girl so for me that really isn't a problem. I could have done with a sweater!"

The 29-year-old American rolled back the years in the first set and was at her destructive best and rekindled the form that has seen her lift the crown at SW19 four times in the last five years.

She dished out a first-set bagel to Suarez Navarro - who felt the pressure of her first centre-court appearance - without breaking sweat.

The Spaniard 20-year-old grew in confidence in the second and forced a number of break points but every time she was asked questions, Williams had the answer and sailed through to round four.

Ivanovic was made to scrap for her place in round four by Australian number one Samantha Stosur, before coming through 7-5, 6-2.

"I've very happy with that match because I let my tactics prevail over my emotions and stuck to doing what I wanted to do," said the Serbian 13th seed.

"I'm very excited about playing Venus again. She plays so well here and it will be tough but I feel that I'm getting better and better in each match that I play."

Meanwhile, Denmark's ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki breezed her way past 20th seed Anabel Medina Garriques to book her place in the last 16 with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic has crashed out to 17-year-old American qualifier Melanie Oudin 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2.

And world number one and top seed Dinara Safina of Russia blitzed her way past Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 6-1.

 * Leading life assurance and pensions company AEGON is lead partner of British Tennis and is backing the sport at all levels, from grassroots to world class tennis events. For further information visit www.lta.org.uk