Serena eases past Safina

Tennis: Serena Williams reached the 19th grand slam quarter-final of her career on Sunday with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 defeat …

Tennis:Serena Williams reached the 19th grand slam quarter-final of her career on Sunday with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 defeat of Russian Dinara Safina at Roland Garros.

The sole American player remaining in either singles draw surged into a 4-0 lead and was always in control.

Only briefly in the second set did 10th seed Safina, one of four Russians in the last 16, threaten to make a contest of it when she broke the Williams serve for the first time.

She had another chance at 2-2, but Williams snuffed out the danger and sped away to victory in one hour and 17 minutes.

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The 2002 champion will face either top seed and winner for the last two years Justine Henin or Austrian Sybille Bammer in the last eight.