Venus Williams joins her sister in quarterfinals

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time in five years, beating Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-4, 6-4 today at Melbourne Park.

The Wimbledon champion will face fourth-ranked Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.

Williams, in her first tournament since withdrawing from the season-ending champion at Madrid in November due to illness, lost the 2003 Australian final to sister Serena and hadn't gone beyond the fourth round in the season-opening major since.

Venus Williams has six Grand Slam singles titles, but her run to the 2003 final remains her best performance in Australia.

"I have come close, then this girl named Williams took my dream away," Venus said of her Australian aspirations.

Serena Williams, the defending Australian champion, moved into the quarterfinals Sunday along with top-ranked Justine Henin and fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova, a finalist last year.

Serena will play No. 3 Jelana Jankovic, and Henin will face Sharapova.

Ivanovic had a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win earlier today over Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki. Ivanovic didn't have a single winner in the first set and won just 10 of 25 points on her serve as she dropped serve three times.

"I have a lot of respect for her, she is a great person," Williams said of Ivanovic.

With sister Serena shouting encouragement, Williams had her hands full with Domachowska.

Far from being intimidated by Williams' power, Domachowska matched it with her own -- she had aces on three of her first five serves -- along with a variety of spins.

Williams often found herself on the defensive as Domachowska swung for winners at every opportunity.

Williams' right thigh was strapped, and Domachowska gave it a workout, keeping her constantly sprinting from side to side. Williams had to fight back twice from service breaks in the first set, getting back on serve when Domachowska double-faulted on break point, then took the set when the Polish woman netted a straightforward forehand volley.

Williams got the first break of the second set to pull ahead 5-3. Domachowska fended off a match point before breaking back.

Domachowska set up a second match point for Williams with one error while serving 30-30 in the next game, then netted a forehand to finish it off.

"It's good, it gets me ready for the rounds going forward," Williams said of the close match.

Henin beat Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei on Sunday and now will put her 32-match winning streak on the line against Sharapova in their first meeting since the season-ending championship final in Madrid.

Sharapova pounded fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0, breaking the 11th-ranked player in six of her seven service games, including one at love to finish off the match in 62 minutes.

In Sunday's late matches, No. 2 Rafael Nadal advanced to the men's quarterfinals in straight sets, including an abbreviated 6-3, 3-0 win in the fourth round when Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew because of an injured left leg late Sunday.

Top-ranked Roger Federer, chasing his third consecutive Australian title and 13th major, faces his first seeded rival today when he takes on No. 13 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. James Blake also faces Marin Cilic, and Lleyton Hewitt meets No. 3 Novak Djokovic.