THE Williams sisters have cruised through to the quarter-finals of the women's singles at Wimbledon this afternoon.

Venus Williams had the easiest task, as her opponent, Ana Ivanovic, was forced to retire with an injury at the start of the second set.

Ivanovic was trailing 1-6 0-1 when she was forced to call it a day after a lengthy bout of treatment on an upper thigh injury.

"I think she was in a lot of pain and I felt really sad for her, she was really upset," said Venus, the reigning champion. "This is Wimbledon. She tried to not show it but I guess it was so bad."

Venus was quickly joined in the last eight by her sister, with Serena recording a comprehensive 6-3 6-1 win over Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

Serena will face Victoria Azarenka in the last eight after the Belarussian beat Nadia Petrova 7-6 2-6 6-3.

Andy Murray will face Stanislas Wawrinka in the final match on Centre Court this evening.

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