Golovin Next for Venus at Amelia Island

Williams won a battle between unseeded American players, beating out Meilen Tu, 62 75. After Williams cruised through the first set in 27 minutes Tu retaliated, going ahead by a break on two separate occasions in the second set; but the former world No.1 was not fazed, rallying back each time then breaking in the final game to clinch the win.

"She turned up her game nicely; made me hit a lot of balls, got to a lot of balls and stepped up and hit some winners when she had her chance," Williams said. "It was nice to break back each time. After that I really didn't want to let go of my serve at all so I just did what it took. For her, there was a lot of pressure to consolidate those breaks, and that's where I had the advantage."

Next up for the American is No.8-seeded Tatiana Golovin, who beat No.12 seed Samantha Stosur, 62 61. Golovin will be a dangerous opponent for Williams; in their only prior encounter, on the same green clay court surface at Charleston two seasons ago, the French teenager prevailed in straight sets, 75 64.

"I haven't seen her play lately, but I'm looking forward to getting on court with her," said Golovin, whose win over Williams was her third of now eight career Top 10 wins. "She's definitely one of the toughest to beat when she's in top form."

"I expect to play well more than anything," added Williams. "I'm trying to elevate my game with each match - that's really what I want from my game."

Williams is one of two former Amelia Island winners in this week's draw. The other is also still alive; top seed and defending champion Nadia Petrova made the quarterfinal cut with a 62 63 victory over No.15 seed Zheng Jie in the afternoon.

"She wasn't an easy opponent," Petrova said. "She had me on the run a lot of times and sometimes came up with unbelievable shots on the full stretch. But I felt much better than I did in my first match and I'm happy with my win today."

Awaiting the Russian in the next round is countrywoman Dinara Safina. The No.5-seeded Safina eased past No.11 seed Katarina Srebotnik, 63 61.

"She's a tough opponent; I'll have to raise my game," said Petrova, who is 4-0 in the head-to-head but two of those have been tight three-setters, including last week in Miami. "It's going to be a mental battle. She lost to me last week so she is fired up to get revenge; I'll do everything possible not to let that happen."

Rounding out the quarterfinal roster will be No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic, an easy 62 60 winner over No.16 seed Alona Bondarenko; No.6 seed Ana Ivanovic, who beat Nathalie Dechy, 61 61; No.13 seed Sybille Bammer, a 62 63 winner over qualifier Karolina Sprem; and finally No.3 seed Daniela Hantuchova, who won an evening match against her Slovak compatriot, Dominika Cibulkova, 61 64, rallying from 3-1 down in the second set. (WTA)