Tennis Australian Open Championships: Rarely does Amelie Mauresmo play a tournament without some part of her body covered in strapping and this year's Australian Open is no exception. This time it is an adductor strain of the left thigh.

"It's just a little tight and I wear the tape to prevent it getting worse," she said after defeating Russia's Evgenia Linetskaya 6-2, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final against Serena Williams, a repeat of their Wimbledon semi-final which was the best women's match seen on Centre Court last year.

"I play tennis for these kind of big matches," said Mauresmo who, if she won the title next Saturday, would delight an enormous number of people who recognise her exceptional talents and remain thoroughly frustrated that she has never won one of the world's major titles.

A year ago, on the morning of her quarter-final against Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga, Mauresmo left the practice court in tears after pulling out with a back problem. Not for the first time there were many who wondered just how bad the injury was or whether it was psychosomatic.

Such thoughts were neither malicious nor unfounded, for the French woman, who reached her one and only grand slam final here in 1999 when she lost to Martina Hingis, has suffered most terribly with nerves since making the transition from being the world's top junior to the professional ranks.

The French shake their heads whenever another injury occurs and ponder what is going on in the head of their leading player.

She has spent four of the last five years in the top 10 and is currently ranked number two, having briefly risen to the pinnacle last September, the first Frenchwoman to achieve the number one singles ranking; no Frenchman has done it either.

Off court she is charming, urbane and highly intelligent; on the court she eschews the groans, screams and general histrionics of some of her more prominent opponents and accepts both victory and defeat in a thoroughly gracious manner.

In the last three years Mauresmo has reached six quarter-finals and three semi-finals at the four majors, yet has always been unable to repeat the push through into a final, which she achieved here as a 19-year-old.

"I had the feeling here last year that it was going to happen again," she said yesterday. "Who knows, maybe it will be this time."

Serena Williams, who defeated the Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, was far from convincing and once again appears overweight and less than 100 per cent fit. Had Petrova not made a desperately poor start, and then lost her nerve in the deciding set, Williams might not have made it into the second week.

She was breathing heavily after winning the first set and then became upset with a baseline judge, a sure sign that she was under pressure. The days when she could blast opponents off the court appear to be over; now, there are any number of opponents who can trade blows and are neither intimidated nor overwhelmed.

Williams has a psychological hold on Mauresmo, although their last two meetings have been extremely close. Much may depend on whether the French player has the nerve to get to the net and volley, for she knows this could give her the crucial edge.

The other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw will be an all-Russian match between Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon champion, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open winner, with both of them treading new ground in this competition.

Kuznetsova, who beat another Russian Vera Douchevina - they are everywhere - in the fourth round, did her best to tone down all talk of animosity between Sharapova, who has lived in the United States since she was nine, and the rest. It was not altogether convincing. "She is different, you know. But we are all fine with her." But would she be welcome in the Russian Federation Cup team? "It's not my decision," said Kuznetsova, playing the deadest of dead bats.

Sharapova, whose on-court wails appear to have increased every other day as the tournament has progressed, defeated the Italian veteran Silvia Farina Elia - who had previously beaten Britain's Elena Baltacha - although not without dropping the first set.

"I just told myself to keep fighting," said the 17-year-old, as if somebody might have failed to notice. The Siberian-born Sharapova is a fighting machine through and through, displaying an intensity that borders on the pathological.

Indeed all the Russians have exceptional competitiveness, which has driven so many of them to the highest level. Ultimately one of them seems likely to become dominant, with this quarter-final between Sharapova and Kuznetsova - arguably the two best - possibly being of great significance for the long term. - Guardian Service