London, June 28 (bdnews24.com/AFP) – Five-time champion Venus Williams battled into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over Australia's Jarmila Groth on Monday.

Williams, who last won Wimbledon in 2008, was pushed all the way by world number 92 Groth, but the American was able to do enough on the big points to ensure she remains on course to add a sixth All England Club singles title to her collection.

Venus, seeded second, has reached eight of the last 10 finals here and she had been in typically vibrant form in the first week - winning her three matches without dropping a set and losing just 15 games in the process.


This was her sternest test of the tournament to date and she responded with the perfect attitude to finally kill off an obdurate opponent and secure a last eight meeting with Marion Bartoli or Tsvetana Pironkova.

With so many big stars in action on a busy day at the All England Club, Venus was shunted from the show-courts out to the less glamourous confines of Court Two.

Away from the spotlight, Venus's game seemed to lose some of its lustre as she struggled to make any dents in Groth's impressive serve.

Slovakia-born Groth, who now lives in Sydney, was bidding to reach the last eight of a grand slam for the first time.

Achieving that goal in her first meeting with Venus was a daunting proposition for the 23-year-old, but she showed no signs of being intimidated by the task.

Matching the hard-hitting Williams blow for blow, Groth managed to keep the American from over-powering her at the baseline for much of the match.

But, in the 10th game of the set, Venus added an extra level of aggression to her ground strokes and a crushing forehand winner brought up a set point on Groth's serve which she converted when the Australian tamely netted a volley.

Even then Groth refused to surrender and she hit back by breaking Venus in the first game of the second set.

When she came to serve for the set at 5-4 up, Groth's nerve seemed to go and she made some careless mistakes to hand Williams a break back.

That could have shattered her morale but she kept making Venus work for every point and broke for a 6-5 lead when the American missed a forehand.

A roller-coaster set had one last twist as Venus recovered her composure to break Groth's serve again and set up a tie-break.

Venus raced into a 4-1 lead in the breaker, only for Groth to draw level after a double-fault from the American.

Another double-fault, this time from Groth, gave Venus a match-point and she was finally able to finish off a gruelling encounter.


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