BERLIN: Serena Williams booked her quarterfinal berth at the German Open on Thursday with her 17th consecutive win but admitted she was just glad not to follow world NO 1 Justine Henin out of the tournament.

On a day of upsets, Henin suffered a shock third round exit at the hands of Russian Dinara Safina, while third seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova also crashed out after her third round defeat to Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.

And defending champion Ana Ivanovic needed three sets to see off Austria's Sybille Bammer 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 as darkness fell at Berlin's Steffi Graf Stadium.

But Williams had few problems in her third round 6-3, 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska, her 17th straight victory after winning the Miami, Charleston and Bangalore WTA tournaments this year.

But she said her number of wins was irrelevant and she was just happy not to suffer the same fate as Henin, who was earlier beaten 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 - her second defeat in her last three games.

"Yes, that was my 17th win on the trot, but I am not even keeping count, it's just about winning these games every day," said fifth-seed Williams.

"You can never under-estimate these Tier I tournaments, every day is a battle out there."

Williams, who hammered Henin 6-2, 6-0 in Miami at the start of last month, now plays Safina in the last eight, but said world number one Henin is more than capable of bouncing back after her latest setback.

"I am surprised she lost, she is a good winner and people have a lot of expectations of her," said Williams.

"She will play a lot better and this is just one tournament."

AFP

(China Daily 05/10/2008 page12)