Ana Ivanovic during her match against Aravane Rezai in Wimbledon on Monday. Ivanovic won 6-3, 6-2. (AFP)

London: Venus Williams looked as though she was hurtling towards defeat against a Japanese skiing fan on Monday before fighting back to set up a fourth-round Wimbledon tie against another former champion Maria Sharapova.

Venus was one game away from tumbling out but, as rain began to fall again on the grasscourt tournament, she outsmarted Akiko Morigami 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

While Venus’s two-hour five-minute tussle with Morigami justified Wimbledon’s decision to award women equal prize money for the first time this year, Justine Henin has done little to silence the critics.

The world number one made the most of a short dry spell on Monday to reach the quarter finals with a 6-2, 6-2 destruction of Patty Schnyder.

The Belgian, who completed a hattrick of French Open titles last month, has dropped only 15 games during her stroll into the last eight.

“I was a bit surprised the match was so quick,” Henin said. “I've done my job perfectly so far.”

“It’s tough, when I see the guys playing five sets. I think it’s great but they are stronger than us.” Henin is in little doubt however that, given the popularity of the women's game, Wimbledon organisers made the correct decision to award both equal prize money across the board.

“I think it’s a question of respect and it’s finally fair. We do a lot for the sport and the fans love women's tennis.”

Things could get significantly trickier in the next round if she runs into Serena Williams, provided the seventh seed manages to dispatch Daniela Hantuchova.

Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva, however, was upstaged by a 16-year-old Austrian. Tamira Paszek, the youngest player left in the draw, underlined her growing reputation on the circuit to thwart 25-year-old Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Venus was two breaks down in the second set when torrential downpours over southwest London halted play on Saturday.

On resumption her fortunes dipped further when she lost the set after being broken again.

Morigami, the last Asian left in the field, seemed to have won the psychological battle when she came from 0-40 down to hold her serve for 3-2 and was gifted a break three games later thanks to a Venus double fault.

But the three-times former champion clung on to deny Morigami a famous victory and made no secret of what the win meant to her, jumping up and down to celebrate her great escape.

“In my experience, I just always feel like it should go my way. So I guess experience helps.”

“Winning this kind of match helps me going on in the tournament,” said Venus.

Seventh seed Tomas Berdych ended Asian interest in the men’s competition when he squeezed past South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 to reach the last 16.

It was the only men’s match to be completed so far on Day VII of the grasscourt Grand Slam before rain once again interrupted play.