Serena to meet Kuznetsova in quarters

She may have looked shaky in her first three matches but Serena Williams shook off her first week blues and looked every inch a title contender in thrashing Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-2 in the fourth round on Monday. In a sterling performance on Philippe Chatrier court, the 10-time Grand Slam champion completely overpowered the woman who has beaten her in the semi-finals of Stanford last summer (although Serena did retire injured there in the second set), ripping 25 winners and committing only eight unforced errors in the 53-minute contest. Serena started the match as quickly as she ended it, serving efficiently and with terrific location, keeping her ground strokes deep and pouncing on every short ball. Most importantly, she negated Wozniak's second serves, as the powerful Canadian was only able to win two out of 13 points on the second offering. “I feel like it was my most focused match so far,” Serena said afterwards. “I was able to stay focused throughout. My Dad told me some things he wanted me to work on and I just tried to do it.” The 2002 Roland Garros winner will face Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals after the Russian No7 seed bullied Agnieszka Radwanska into submission, nailing 32 winners to just 13 from her Polish foe in a 6-4 1-6 6-1 win. 2006 finalist Kuznetsova has been on a roll since winning Stuttgart in early May and overcame a set of second set nerves to pull through, but she knows she cannot afford any more significant lapses for the rest of the tournament. “It was tough, mentally,” she said. “Second set, I played bad and made a lot of mistakes. I wasn't moving that much. After I went to change clothes, I was thinking that I’d relax a little bit and just play my game. I started to do much better. Definitely I’m not happy to play three sets but I’ve already been through a little bit of fight, because the other matches were too easy. Today it was a test. But next matches, I cannot allow myself to do this - I have to be more prepared.” Serena leads their head-to-head 5-1, taking out the Russian at the 2009 Australian Open in three sets and in their only meeting on clay back in 2004 in Rome. Kuznetsova’s only victory over the American came at 2007 Stuttgart on hard courts. “She's playing unbelievable on clay,” Serena said. “I think she's been doing really good in this tournament. I have nothing to lose. She was going here with high expectations, I am as well. It will be a really good match - this is when everything counts. I have to pick up my level and play again a really good, strong match, especially playing somebody like who moves extremely well and doesn't do anything bad. It will be a good test.” Kuznetsova and Serena are friendly off court, sharing similar tastes in music, but it will be all business on Wednesday and the Russian knows that she will have to be at her best if she is to win. “Serena, maybe she didn't play that many tournaments on clay, or she didn't do well, but you cannot discount her,” she said. “She's a big champion and a great player. She won here, and definitely she knows how to play on clay. I feel a little bit more comfortable on clay than her. I have to just play my game and try to dictate. Serve going to be big in this match. We definitely both have chances. I think she's favourite, but still I'm looking forward to playing and having fun out there.”