Clijsters downs Henin

Clijsters fought back from a set down, breaking her compatriot in the fourth and eighth games of the second set to level the match and again in the eighth game of the third set for a crucial advantage.

The 27-year-old will now play Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonereva who went through to the last eight after Jelena Jankovic retired in the second set of their fourth round contest.

The all-Belgian match was billed as a clash of the comeback queens with both former World No. 1s returning to Wimbledon after lengthy absences.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer strolled into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Austrian 16th seed Jurgen Melzer on Monday.

The 28-year-old top seed had crushed Arnaud Clement in the third round and he swept Melzer aside with the kind of dominant display which has been his trademark at the All England Club since he first won the title here back in 2003.

Federer will face Tomas Berdych, the Czech 12th seed, or unseeded German Daniel Brands in the last eight.

Federer dropped his opening service game but that was about the only slip-up from the Swiss star from the rest of the match.

Melzer, the 16th seed, had never reached this stage of the tournament before and Federer quickly reasserted his supremacy by breaking straight back.

Another break followed soon after as Federer, who has 16 Grand Slam titles to his name, took advantage of some hesitant play from the Austrian.

With Federer comfortable on his serve, Melzer was under intense pressure to hold his own serve and the left-hander crumbled under the strain in the second set.

Federer was able to produce winners on Melzer's first serve at will and he crushed his opponent's weak second serves to open up a two-break lead that proved more than enough to take the set.

Melzer couldn't make any impact on the Federer serve in the third set either and it was only a matter of time before the World No. 2 two broke again — in the seventh game — before serving out the match in one hour and 24 minutes.

Wozniacki knocked out

Danish third seed Caroline Wozniacki was knocked out of the fourth round 6-2, 6-0 by unseeded Czech player Petra Kvitova in the biggest shock of the tournament so far. Wozniacki wilted in a 46-minute outing on the 4,000-seater Court 2.

World No. 4 Wozniacki is no stranger to winning at the All England Club, having claimed the girls' singles crown in 2006. As one of the World's top players, the 19-year-old got to meet Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the All England Club on Thursday.

But the 2009 U.S. Open finalist fell at the fourth round for the second time in two years here. The Dane had won both previous encounters with World No. 62 Kvitova, which were disputed on clay.

Though both made 11 unforced errors, it was the consistency of Kvitova's serving which told. The Czech No. 3 won 86 per cent of points on her first serve, while Wozniacki converted just 30 per cent.

In reaching the quarterfinals, Kvitova has produced her best-ever Grand Slam performance. Her run here is the first time she has strung consecutive victories together since Memphis in February.

Venus through

Meanwhile, five-time champion Venus Williams battled into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Australia's Jarmila Groth on Monday. — AFP

THE RESULTS

Men: Fourth round: 1-Roger Federer bt 16-Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; 10-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt 32-Julien Benneteau 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Women: Fourth round: 1-Serena Williams bt 16-Maria Sharapova 7-6(9), 6-4; 21-Vera Zvonareva bt 4-Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 3-0 (retd.); 9-Li Na bt 7-Agnieszka Radwanksa 6-3, 6-2; 2-Venus Williams bt Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-6(5); Tsvetana Pironkova bt 11-Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-4; 8-Kim Clijsters bt 17-Justine Henin 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; Petra Kvitova bt 3-Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0; Kaia Kanepi bt Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-4 . Agencies