Tennis: Serena unfazed by new kids on the block

Published on Tuesday 30 June 2009 09:44

SERENA WILLIAMS was set to concede eight years to her quarter-final opponent this afternoon but insists she is not feeling her age as she attempts to close in on a third Wimbledon crown.

The appearance of two teenagers in the last eight of the women's singles suggests the arrival of a new order but the Williams sisters are strongly fancied to set up a repeat of their 2002, 2003 and 2008 finals.

Standing in Serena's way today is 19-year-old Victoria Azarenka, the eighth seed who defeated Nadia Petrova 7-6 2-6 6-3 in the fourth round yesterday. "She's obviously a good player and she's really young," said Serena. "When you're playing the girls who are really young, they really want it, as bad as I still want it. It always makes for a good fight.

"It's good to be young and hungry. It was great when I was 19, 20. I think I'm still in a great position because I'm really young in life. I feel really young out there on the court still so I'm excited." Serena is second on Centre Court, with Venus opening up on Court One against 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat American teenager Melanie Oudin to reach the last eight for the second successive year.

Top seed Dinara Safina was first on Centre Court today against Sabine Lisicki, the 19-year-old German who is one of two unseeded players in the last eight.

The other tie sees fourth seed Elena Dementieva take on the unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone.