ESPN.com - Wimbledon 2002 - Venus beats Raymond in 47 minutes
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Thursday, July 17
Venus beats Raymond in 47 minutes

WIMBLEDON, England -- Venus Williams won her 18th straight singles match at Wimbledon, routing Lisa Raymond in straight sets Monday to reach the quarterfinals.

Her sister, second-seeded Serena Williams, also advanced by beating Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-3 in a rain-interrupted match. Williams led 4-3 in the second set when play was suspended. When the match resumed 1 hour, 50 minutes later, Williams finished it off in seven minutes.

With two more wins apiece, the Williams sisters will meet in their third Grand Slam final in 10 months.

No. 3 Jennifer Capriati split the first two sets with Eleni Daniilidou when the match was suspended by darkness. It will resume Tuesday.

Capriati has advanced to the semifinals in her past six majors, winning three. Her latest Grand Slam title came at the Australian Open in January.

Daniilidou claimed her first career WTA Tour title at the Ordina Open, defeating four seeds en route to the championship, but she has lost both her career meetings with Capriati.

No. 4 Monica Seles, who could meet Venus Williams in the semis, beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-2. No. 7 Jelena Dokic, a semifinalist in 1999, lost 6-4, 7-5 to No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova.

Venus Williams, the two-time defending champion and No. 1 seed, overpowered the 35th-ranked Raymond 6-1, 6-2 in just 47 minutes in the day's opening match on Court 1.

Williams, who wore a white bandage on her left knee and had her right wrist taped, was much sharper than Saturday, when she dropped the first set against 110th-ranked Maureen Drake of Canada.

"It's definitely nice I've won the tournament before and have the experience,'' said Williams, the only former champion left in the women's draw. "I know what it takes to win here. I have a lot going for me with that.''

Raymond, a 28-year-old American who is known primarily as a doubles specialist, couldn't cope with Williams' power game. Williams had 20 winners, 16 more than Raymond.

"I'm just trying to impress as the tournament goes on, just trying to get my feet moving,'' Williams said. "I'm feeling better about keeping my unforced errors down, just trying to play some controlled tennis.''

Williams took the first set in 18 minutes and faced her first break point while serving for the match at 5-2 in the second. But she saved it with a backhand winner and, two points later, Raymond hit a weak forehand into the net to end the contest.

With her mother, Oracene, watching from the stands, Williams twirled twice and clapped her racket to acknowledge the crowd's ovation.

Williams advanced on a day when all 16 men's and women's fourth-round matches were scheduled. She finished her match before a heavy downpour brought the first rain interruption of the tournament. After a completely dry first week, the start of play on the outside courts was delayed by 40 minutes, and then all matches were suspended for almot two hours.

Fans were bundled up in sweaters and rain jackets, with temperatures around 62 degrees and a brisk wind.

In an early women's match, Russia's Elena Likhovtseva downed No. 19 Magdalena Maleeva 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.

No. 6 Justine Henin, last year's losing finalist, edged No. 12 Elena Dementieva 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), while No. 9 Amelie Mauresmo was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over American Laura Granville.

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