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Williams sisters, Djokovic stride into Open quarters

Third seed Djokovic, the 2008 winner, joined Spanish defending champion Rafael Nadal, British fifth seed Andy Murray, American seventh seed Andy Roddick and 14^th seeded Croat Marin Cilic safely through.

Also staying in the hunt was in-form Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who was stretched to the limit by Spanish ninth seed Fernando Verdasco before prevailing 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.

Roger Federer attempts to join them later Monday with the 15-time Grand Slam champion playing Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, who has not beaten the Swiss great in their last 14 meetings.

Whoever wins will next face Davydenko.

Defending champion Serena Williams was a class above local hope Sam Stosur, despite the 13^th seed having home crowd support.

She ran out an easy 6-4, 6-2 winner and will play either Belarrussian seventh seed Victoria Azarenka or ninth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva for a place in the semi-finals as she guns for a fifth title.

“Sam beat me last time convincingly so I knew I had to do well out there,” said Serena. “I think my serve was very good.”

Sister Venus, seeded six, found the going tougher against Italian 17^th seed Francesca Schiavone, losing the first set before bouncing back for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

The sisters join Li, Justine Henin, Nadia Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Zheng Jie in the last eight.

Venus is in her 11^th Australian Open campaign but is yet to win the singles crown, in stark contrast to Serena.

But the elder Williams is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of success, insisting a major part of her game plan was staying positive.

She said she could break her Australian drought this year.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go and I feel very good,” said Venus, who has won five Wimbledons and two US Open titles.

“Obviously, I’m hitting the ball pretty good, especially against her today. She was really playing well.”

She faces Li next after the 16^th seed upset Danish fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 for her best-ever performance at the Australian Open.

Li’s victory broke new ground for Chinese tennis with the 27-year-old joining compatriot Zheng Jie in the last eight, the first time two Chinese players have reached that stage of a Grand Slam.

She is looking forward to meeting Venus, who she beat in their only previous match at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I know it’ll be tough, but you have to play Venus first and then maybe Serena,” she said.

“It was a good experience for me, for my tennis,” she added on beating Williams in Beijing.

“But I just want to forget because I play her again. I don’t want to think about the last match. I want to look forward.”

Djokovic powered into the quarters with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 win over Poland’s unseeded Lukasz Kubot and will meet either France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who he beat in the 2008 final, or Spanish 26^th seed Nicolas Almagro.

The Serbian struggled with his form in the opening two rounds, but has moved up a gear and is back with the dominant touch he displayed in the second half of last year.

“I think the first two sets I was very dominant on the court, then he lifted up his level of the game a little bit,” he said.

“That’s why we had a longer third set. In general, I was very happy with the way I performed today.”