Sharapova shines

Russian defending champion Maria Sharapova enjoyed a sun-soaked stroll into the Wimbledon quarter-finals yesterday.

French pair Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce, together with a vengeful Venus Williams, all blazed through too but Australian men's third seed Lleyton Hewitt had to work a little harder, taken to four sets by American Taylor Dent.

On a frenetic day of action featuring all 16 fourth-round singles matches, second seed Sharapova prevented Nathalie Dechy joining her French compatriots with a 6-4 6-2 victory on Court One.

"I'm playing better and better," said the 18-year-old after her fourth consecutive straight sets win of a so-far untroubled title defence.

"The matches from now on are going to get even tougher you've got to be ready."

Awaiting Sharapova in the quarter-finals is Russian eighth seed Nadia Petrova, who fought back to beat Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 6-7 7-6 6-3.

A third Russian, gutsy ninth seed Anastasia Myskina, joined them in the last eight with a dramatic 1-6 7-6 7-5 victory over compatriot Elena Dementieva, the sixth seed whom she beat in the 2004 French Open final.

Myskina's next opponent is third seed Mauresmo. A semi-finalist on her last two Wimbledon visits, the French number one overcame a wobbly start to beat yet another Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-4 6-0.

"The beginning wasn't my best tennis," said Mauresmo, who trailed 0-2 and 2-4 in the first set. "I had to adjust a little bit. It's very hot."

Pierce was a surprise French Open finalist earlier this month and she brushed aside Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-1 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final since 1996.

She will next face Venus, who avenged her sister Serena's shock third-round loss to fellow American Jill Craybas by thrashing the 30-year-old 6-0 6-2 on court two, the scene of Craybas's upset in dwindling light on Saturday.

Despite losing a third-set tiebreak, Hewitt employed his raking service returns to quell the square-shouldered Dent in a tight Centre Court duel.

He won 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-3 to set up an intriguing last-eight meeting with Feliciano Lopez who upset last year's semi-finalist Mario Ancic of Croatia, the 10th seed, 6-4 6-4 6-2 to reach the last eight at a grand slam for the first time.

Lopez therefore became the first Spaniard in 33 years to reach the men's quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Another French representative, 19-year-old Richard Gasquet, proved no match for 2002 runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Gasquet has enjoyed his best run at a grand slam so far but he was swept aside 6-4 7-6 6-0 by 18th seed Nalbandian on court two.

The Argentine faces 30-year-old Swede Thomas Johansson in the last eight. The 12th seed and 2002 Australian Open champion neutralised the big serve of Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-4 7-5 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.

Roddick, Davenport through

Andy Roddick overwhelmed tenacious Argentine Guillermo Coria 6-3 7-6 6-4 to stride into the quarter-finals. The American cranked up his serve when it mattered and extended his record to a perfect 5-0 against the Argentine claycourt specialist.

Coria appeared out of his depth from the start and Roddick held break points in every one of Coria's first six service games, converting two of them.

Never one to give in easily, Coria fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to level at 5-5. It only delayed the inevitable as Roddick roared through the ensuing tiebreak 7-1 before sealing victory in just under two hours with his 12th ace.

On her part, top seed Lindsay Davenport outgunned Kim Clijsters, winning a late evening ferocious Centre Court battle 6-3 6-7 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

Desperate to claim a second Wimbledon title before she retires, the 29-year-old American needed to be at her powerful best to stop the Belgian 15th seed in one hour 50 minutes.

Pounding down first serves and dissecting the lines with her stinging groundstrokes, Davenport raced through the opening set in 29 minutes with three breaks of serve.

The scurrying Clijsters survived a match point at 4-5 and then produced some inspired tennis to take it into a decider.

However she paid the price for a lapse in concentration at 1-1 in the third, gifting Davenport a break with two wild errors. Belting forehand winners with effortless power, Davenport broke again to lead 5-2.

Clijsters clawed one game back but a double fault at 3-5 handed Davenport victory and a quarter-final meeting with Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Late result: Federer bt Ferrero 6-3 6-4 7-6.