Henman survives as
Hewitt powers on

Top seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams hammered out stern Wimbledon warnings to reach the quarter-finals but Tim Henman needed smelling salts to revive his championship dreams on a day of high drama at the grasscourt Grand Slam.

The British fourth seed's hopes dangled by a thread before a combination of smelling salts and leg massages midway through a five-set marathon saved him from defeat by Swiss journeyman Michel Kratochvil.

"I have no idea how I won really... I was having trouble with my stomach," he said after his 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 close shave.

"When I came back after the rain delay I had very little energy. I don't know what kept me alive but I think the crowd can take a lot of credit for that.

"There is no way you can pull out of this tournament and I just had to keep fighting."

Henman, bidding to become the first British champion here in 66 years, looked down and out after dropping the second and third sets before the smelling salts helped revive him.

As he hung on, nerves struck the 45th-ranked Kratochvil and he handed Henman back a break in the fourth set, allowed him to level the match and Henman ran away with the fifth.

AMAZING ATMOSPHERE

"That last set was incredible, the atmosphere was amazing," the Briton said. "I could hear everyone outside and I still can't figure out how I won.

"Because I was feeling pretty tired, I wasn't actually getting that nervous. The crowd was phenomenal at the end... I am so happy just still to be alive."

Henman next plays Brazil's Andre Sa for a place in the semi-finals.

The second Briton in the draw, Greg Rusedski, was also still alive -- just -- when poor light stopped his fourth round match against Xavier Malisse at 1950 GMT. The pair were tied two sets apiece and will play the fifth and decisive set on Tuesday.

Women's third seed Jennifer Capriati was also in a spot of bother when her match was halted due to poor light. She was a set apiece with Greek Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 3-6.

Venus's sister and second seed Serena did not hang around, though, putting a handful of indifferent performances behind her to end Chanda Rubin's hopes with a 6-3, 6-3 victory on Centre Court.

Twice-champion Venus earlier walloped American compatriot Lisa Raymond 6-1, 6-2 in just 48 minutes, while Hewitt reached the last eight with a tidy 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Mikhail Youzhny.

"It was tough conditions, conditions you don't want to spend a lot of time out there," Hewitt said afterwards. "I'm pretty happy to be off there in straight sets."

Hewitt, whose match finished before the rain delay, will take on Dutchman Sjeng Schalken in his first quarter-final at the grasscourt grand slam and is showing no signs of letting up.

"I have played some tough matches and tough sets but haven't lost a lot of energy out there which is a good thing," Hewitt added.

BAD NEWS

The world number one has yet to drop a set at the championships -- bad news for Henman who is seeded to meet the Australian in the semi-finals.

The tall and elegant Venus, looking in perfect shape to win the title for a third time in a row, blasted Raymond off court one to set up a quarter-final meeting with Russian Elena Likhovtseva.

Likhovtseva may be quaking in her tennis shoes at the prospect of the match-up with Venus because on current form the world number one looks unbeatable.

"It's definitely nice to know I've won here. I have experience. I know what it takes to win here," Venus said afterwards.

Watched by her mother Oracene, who stands out in any crowd with her bright and big shock of orange hair, Venus left Raymond standing with searing groundstrokes down both flanks and served the doubles specialist into submission.

"Today was pretty solid and going into the quarter-finals was pretty good," Venus, 22, said.

Oracene also watched Serena and her younger daughter looked in fine form against Rubin and on track to set up an all-sister final -- a repeat of the last U.S. Open and French Open finals.

Venus triumphed in New York while Serena won last month in Paris.

NEAR-PERFECT

Rubin won the warm-up grasscourt title in Eastbourne last month but Serena cranked her game up a level and simply overpowered her opponent 6-3, 6-3.

"There's always room for improvement," she smiled when told after the match that it had been a near-perfect performance.

"I am a survivor and I have made it to another day." Serena's 'other day' will be against 11th seed Daniela Hantuchova after the Slovakian beat seventh seed Jelena Dokic 6-4, 7-5.

Belgian sixth seed Justine Henin also survived a hard-fought clash with Russia's Elena Dementieva, winning 7-6, 7-6 and next meets Monica Seles who crushed Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-2.