Nadal and Williams win at Wimbledon

Spaniard Rafael Nadal is through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals after beating Russian Mikhail Youzhny in a thrilling five-setter.

Nadal, second seed and last year's runner-up, battled back from two sets down to take the match 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 and now meets Czech Tomas Berdych, the number seven seed, in the last eight.

Fourteenth seed Youzhny played near flawless tennis in the opening two sets while Nadal struggled to settle after his marathon match with Robin Soderling in the previous round.

But the roles were reversed from the third set which Nadal raced through in 27 minutes and after which Youzhny needed courtside treatment on his back.

Youzhny was then overwhelmed as the Spaniard took the match with identical scores and times in the last two sets.

Earlier Venus Williams booked her place in the semi-finals with a 6-3 6-4 victory over fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The American used the momentum gathered in the demolition of second seed Maria Sharapova to power herself to a 4-1 lead in the first set.

With an array of aggressive smashes, fast serves and high-speed shots to every area of the court Williams took the first set.

The 23rd seed broke in the third game of the second but then Kuznetsova fought back with her first break in the sixth. The Russian's relief was short-lived when Williams immediately broke back.

The three-times former champion wasted four match points on her serve before forcing the Russian to hit long at the end of a lengthy rally to set up a semi-final meeting with either Ana Ivanovic or Nicole Vaidisova.

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