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Serena Williams defeats Evgeniya Rodina to ease into Wimbledon quarter-finals

Williams to face unseeded Italian Camila Giorgi in last eight on Tuesday; Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova becomes latest high-profile casualty

on day seven of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 9, 2018 in London, England.

Seven-time champion Serena Williams produced a dominant performance to ease past the challenge of qualifier Evgeniya Rodina and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

The former world No 1 started the second week at the All England Club with a ruthless display against the world No 120 to win 6-2 6-2 in 62 minutes.

Williams is yet to lose a set at this year's Championships in what is her second Grand Slam appearance since the birth of her first child and she will next meet unseeded Italian Camila Giorgi on Tuesday.

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Serena Williams progresses to her 13th Wimbledon quarter-final.

Serena Williams
Image: Serena Williams was in complete control on Centre Court

The 25th seed began the match with an effortless backhand winner in her opening service game and broke Rodina at the first time of asking to secure the early initiative.

Rodina, playing in her seventh match of the tournament after coming through qualifying, appeared laboured in the early stages but showed encouraging signs with some crisp ball striking.

The Russian brought up a break point in the seventh game of the first set but that was saved in a flash and a second break secured the first set in half an hour.

Evgeniya Rodina
Image: Evgeniya Rodina was playing her seventh match of the tournament after coming through qualifying

Just as in the first set Williams broke Rodina early in the second to move 2-0 ahead but she lost her serve in the fifth game to bring her opponent back on serve.

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That only appeared to increase Williams' intensity as she broke back immediately before she broke once again to stay on course for her eighth Wimbledon title and 24th Grand Slam victory.

VOTE: Wimbledon women's winner
VOTE: Wimbledon women's winner

After an opening week full of high-profile exits, including world No 1 Simona Halep, who will take the opportunity to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish?

Giorgi defeated former quarter-finalist Ekaterina Makarova, who had knocked out second seed Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, 6-3 6-4 to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.

Williams' hopes of an eighth Wimbledon singles title had been aided earlier in the day with the departure of seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, who lost 6-3 7-6 (7-1) to 20th seed Kiki Bertens.

The Czech player's exit means all the top 10 seed seeds have been eliminated from the draw before the quarter-finals.

Karolina Pliskova
Image: Karolina Pliskova became the last member of the top 10 seeds to exit

Bertens will next play Julia Goerges after the German 13th seed defeated Donna Vekic 6-3 6-2.

Angelique Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam champion, is now the highest ranked seed left in the draw after she defeated dangerous unseeded Swiss Belinda Bencic 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Angelique Kerber
Image: Angelique Kerber is the highest ranked player left in the draw

The world No 10 will play 14th seed Daria Kasatkina, who recovered from losing the first set on a tiebreak to advance to her first Wimbledon qiater-final with a 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-2 win over Alison Van Uytvanck.

Dominika Cibulkova proved too strong for Hsieh Su-Wei, as the Taiwanese player was unable to back up her impressive victory over world No 1 Simona Halep in the third round.

The opening eight games of the match went against serve but once Cibulkova took the opener she dominated proceedings to reach the last eight.

Wimbledon Women's Singles - Quarter-finals

Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) (12)
Daria Kasatkina (Rus) (14) v Angelique Kerber (Ger) (11)
Kiki Bertens (Ned) (20) v Julia Goerges (Ger) (13)
Serena Williams (USA) (25) v Camila Giorgi (Ita)

The Slovak will now face Jelena Ostapenko after last year's French Open finalist defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 (7-4) 6-0.

The 12th seed from Latvia trailed by 5-2 in the first set but hit back before racing through the second set to maintain her progress through the field without losing a set.

Serena stands tall amid chaos
Serena stands tall amid chaos

As the second week of Wimbledon prepares to get underway, the women's draw finds itself in uncharted waters but a familiar face could yet crown her greatest achievement.

We have Wimbledon covered from all angles via our website skysports.com/tennis then click through to our dedicated section skysports.com/tennis/wimbledon. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.

Keep up to date with the latest on skysports.com/tennis
Keep up to date with the latest on skysports.com/tennis

We will have news, previews, live blogs, reports and expert analysis from Wimbledon. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.

Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.

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