Venus romps into quarters

Top seed American Venus Williams was keen to quit a chilly Centre Court as rain clouds gathered at Wimbledon on Monday, dispatching compatriot Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-2 in just 48 minutes.

The tall and elegant Williams, looking in perfect shape to win the title for a third time in a row, blasted Raymond off the court to set up a quarter-final meeting with Russian Elena Likhovtseva.

The damp weather meant the usual long queues for Monday of the second week at the championships did not materialise, despite the attractions of Australia's world number one Lleyton Hewitt opening up on Centre Court and British hopes Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski playing later in the day.

Likhovtseva may be quaking in her tennis shoes at the prospect of the match-up with Williams because on current form the world number one looks unbeatable.

"It's definitely nice to know I've won here. I have experience. I know what it takes to win here," Williams said afterwards.

She left Raymond standing with searing groundstrokes down both flanks and served the doubles specialist into submission.

Watched by her mother Oracene, who stands out in any crowd with her bright orange hair, Venus broke Raymond in the fourth game of the first set to go 3-1 up and raced away to win it in 18 minutes.

The second set lasted a little longer, with Venus breaking her opponent's serve on a second break point to lead 2-1. The best 28-year-old Raymond could manage was to fend off another break in game five.

"Today was pretty solid and going into the quarter-finals was pretty good," Williams, 22, said.

For Likhovtseva it will be a first quarter-final at the All England Club after she downed 19th seed Magdalena Maleeva 6-3 6-4.

She overcame a swirling wind and the threat of rain to win in 68 minutes after breaking Maleeva's serve twice in the first set and again in the second.

"She plays a nice game, deep and kind of flat and so every chance I get I'm going to get on top of her." Williams said of her quarter-final opponent.

Dutchman Sjeng Schalken was the first man to grab a place in the quarter-finals after beating Czech Jan Vacek 6-2 7-5 7-5.

After a first week of brilliant sunshine, southwest London reverted to type for the tournament's second week. Matches on the outer courts started 15 minutes late to dry out the grass after early drizzle and forecasters said rain was expected during the day.

The outlook looks bleak for the rest of the week too, with unsettled weather expected.