By Bill Scott, DPA
London : Justine Henin zoomed into the quarter finals of a wet Wimbledon as she blitzed Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-2 in between more weather interruptions and a security crackdown.
The top seed Belgian, bidding to complete her Grand Slam set with a Wimbledon trophy after losing a pair of finals, was pleased to get home and dry before an afternoon rainstorm arrived over the All England club.
Henin needed a total of just 56 minutes to earn her win.
"I was a little bit surprised that the match was that quick, I was ready to have a good fight," said the Belgian world number one. "I knew that it's not the best surface of Patty, I thought I was really focused on my serve.
"It was pretty tough conditions out there: very windy. But I could keep control of the match. I could take it at the beginning of the match and keep it till the end.
"It was very positive for me."
The six-time Grand Slam champion said the poor weather was detracting from the Wimbledon experience at this hard-luck edition.
"It's pretty sad for everyone – the players, the fans, the tournament, everyone.
"It's pretty humid and it's windy out there, very windy. Especially now on the Centre Court with no roof anymore."
Second-week play began amid scenes of unprecedented security after the weekend terror threat in Britain. The rain also delayed the start of proceedings on court and again later.
In left over third-round contests, number five Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-3.
French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic finished off a match interrupted by rain 48 hours earlier as she advanced, winning a held-over second set to defeat Aravane Rezai of France 6-3, 6-2.
"I'm very happy about the win today, it was tough," said the teenaged sixth seed. "We had to stop Saturday and then continue two days later.
"Today it was important, the first game, and I managed to break her. That gave me confidence to play better and to relax a little bit more and just enjoy the tennis.
"I was really happy that I could serve out also very well."
Ivanovic, based in Switzerland, managed 18 winners to balance her 17 unforced errors. The pair played a 42-minute first set Saturday before rain forced weekend play off court.
With the week's weather forecast not so good, tournament officials said that as of Monday the event can still be concluded Sunday – with some luck needed to clear up a growing backlog of doubles matches.
Russian Nadia Petrova concluded with a win over Virginia Ruano Pascal 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) while 16-year-old Austrian tyro Tamira Paszek rallied past experienced Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Another teen, Czech 14th seed Nicole Vaidisova, defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2.
Unseeded former winner Venus Williams vocally screeched through her last two games as raindrops began to fall before hitting the locker room a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 winner over Japan's Akiko Morigami.
In men's play, Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych finished up a left-over Saturday job third-round, putting out Korean Lee Hyung-Taik 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3).
Four-time champion Swiss Roger Federer was boosted into the last eight Sunday when German opponent Tommy Haas had to withdraw with an abdominal muscle tear.