World No.1 Serena Williams storms into French Open quarter-finals

MAKING up for lost time, world No.1 Serena Williams has charged into the French Open quarter-finals, maintaining a perfect record at Roland Garros.

Serena Williams with Elina Svitolina after their fourth round clash.

MAKING up for lost time, world No 1 Serena Williams has charged into the French Open quarter-finals, maintaining a perfect record at Roland Garros.

Yet to drop a set this tournament, the defending champion monstered Ukrainian 18th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-1.

The American was quickly joined there by Dutch giant-killer Kiki Bertens, who stopped American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Serena Williams with Elina Svitolina after their fourth round clash.

And Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky ended Venus Williams run 6-2 6-4, winning 12 of the last 16 games after a poor start.

Taking only 62 minutes to advance, Serena Williams delivered eight aces to Svitolina’s two, 27 winners to 10 and 17 unforced errors to 15.

The American will tomorrow face unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, who downed Spanish 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 7-5 7-5.

After three days of rain interruptions, improved conditions allowed play to start on time - to the palpable relief of tournament organisers.

And Williams wasted no time in helping clear the backlog of matches, surging through the first set in just 26 minutes against shell-shocked Svitolina in 26 minutes.

The American was so dominant the only game Svitolina claimed was through an unlikely serving lapse from the world champion.

The second set, while slightly more competitive, was a virtual carbon copy.

Coached by former champion Justine Henin, Svitolina is steadily emerging but Williams was far too strong.

Originally published as World No.1 Serena Williams storms into French Open quarter-finals