Venus in cruise control at Wimbledon

LONDON: Five-time champion Venus Williams cruised into the last 16 at Wimbledon with a straight sets victory over Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez on Friday.

The American, seeded 23, sailed through the first set but was given more of a contest in the second as she sealed a 6-0, 6-2 victory in 62 minutes.

The victory sets up a clash against Bulgarian number 32 seed Tsvetana Pironkova, who knocked her out of last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals. It was only Williams' second loss on grass to a player from outside the top 30.

Pironkova is in form, having knocked out second seed Vera Zvonareva, last year's beaten finalist, in the third round.

Williams retired in the third round of the Australian Open with a right hip injury.

The US number two, who rarely pulls out of matches, missed all subsequent events until the Eastbourne Wimbledon warm-up, seeing her drop to world number 30.

However, her ranking bears no relevance to her chances at the All England Club, where her win-loss record now stands at 71-9.

Martinez Sanchez, the world number 36, hardly got going at all in the first set on Court One, with Williams effortlessly taking the first four games and the Spaniard doing herself no favours with her double faults.

Williams was finally forced into a higher gear when she was taken to a pair of deuces on her serve.

In the following game, Martinez Sanchez pegged back Williams to two deuces again before the American finally won the 27-minute set.

The Spanish number three at last upped her game in the second set, giving Williams a contest before the American broke for a 3-1 lead.

The left-hander was getting much closer in the games but still was no match for her opponent.

Williams reached match point when Martinez Sanchez overshot a lob and won it when the Spaniard fired wide.