Henin, Williamses, Federer, Roddick advance; Safina derails Davenport

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Defending champion Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 at the Sony Ericsson Open on Monday and will renew one of tennis' best rivalries with Justine Henin in the quarterfinals.

It's a rematch of last year's final, which Henin lost after Williams erased two championship points.

"Actually it's a very good memory from last year, even if I had match points and I lost the match," Henin said. "It was a day that I understood that I could win against Serena, and that I could do it in Grand Slams three times in the same year."

Williams has lost their past three meetings, all last year, at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But she's sure to be fired up again for Tuesday's match.

"We definitely bring out some of the best tennis in each other," Williams said. "And she tends to play really well against me - probably better against me than other opponents. So it's definitely a good match for me."

On Monday, top-seeded Henin defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-2, 6-2 and advanced from the fourth round with No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, both of whom overcame match points in earlier rounds.

No. 6 Venus Williams joined her sister in the quarterfinals by beating 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3. No. 1 Roger Federer reached the fourth round on the men's side.

Roger Federer forces Robin Soderling to retire after the third game of their second set. (Getty Images)

The No. 8-seeded Serena Williams looked sloppy in a third-round victory, when she committed 60 unforced errors, but she pared that total to 24 against Estonia's Kanepi. It was clear Williams meant business: She screamed "C'mon!" when she hit an ace, then shrieked when she a sloppy shot, and both times she could be heard in the top row of the stadium.

"I definitely feel like I was focused," Williams said. "I felt like I had to be. The other match was definitely a good eye opener."

Henin hit eight aces and held every service game against Vesnina. Kuznetsova defeated Shahar Peer of Israel 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 and Jankovic swept Zheng Jie 6-4, 7-5.

A superior serve and return helped Venus Williams defeat Wozniacki, a Dane who has won 14 matches this year to climb to a career-best 43rd in the rankings. Williams lost only six points on her first serve and repeatedly slammed Wozniacki's serve for winners.

Williams is a three-time Key Biscayne champion, but her most recent title in the event came in 2001.

"I definitely feel like I'm playing well," she said. "I'm always trying to take it to another level, regardless. If I'm playing on cloud nine, I'm trying to get to cloud 10, and actually cloud 11."