Preview: V. Williams v Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic Venus remains cool during her straight sets victory over Carla Suarez Navarro. Ana Ivanovic has got her head up just at the moment, and she’s feeling increasingly confident, despite making heavy going of her first match against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. She reckons she has got a fair chance in her fourth round match against defending champion and third seed, Venus Williams. And if appearances were to be believed, 13th seed Ana could be forgiven. Venus has had her left leg taped up for most of the week. But she has been teasing the press about it, batting away any thought of injury, insisting that it’s just comfortable and supportive. She joked: “I was thinking maybe I could get a permanent one. So maybe you'll see me with one that's neoprene and Velcro and all that good stuff. You never know.” Maybe it is a new fashion item, because it certainly has not hampered her performance as she has swept cleanly through her first three rounds without dropping a set. Their head-to-head record is 5-1 in 29-year-old Venus’s favour, but their only meeting on grass was here at Wimbledon in the 2007 semi-finals, which Venus won in straight sets, before going on to win The Championships. What Venus remembers of her encounter with the Serb is that “we had a lot of great exchanges. I just remember playing aggressively”. She said: “Obviously she's talented. I think this is a good surface for her; as far as her game [goes], she does everything well.” And Ana has been watching Roger Federer to pick up tips playing on grass, and feels it suits her game. The 21- year-old has already said she is playing better tennis than ever before, even compared to when she was ranked number one in the world, 12 months ago. She’s now playing ranked at No. 12, and is relishing the encounter with Venus. That last time, Ana said, “was the only time we played on the grass, and it's so different. She likes to go for her first shot. She likes to dominate the points. I just think I have to try to make a lot of returns. And ,obviously, it's going to be important for me to serve well in that match because she has great first serves. So if I can hold on to my serve and then put pressure on her, that would be a key.” Ana continued: “She's very dangerous opponent, but I think I have a great chance, and I feel very comfortable going in that match. I'm so excited to have opportunity for that challenge." It would be good for Venus to have some stiff opposition, so let’s hope Ana is playing as her recently mature and newly-focused self.