Serena makes last eight

Serena Williams is chasing her first claycourt title

 Third round results from Berlin

Serena Williams struggled to find her best form but still finished off Magdalena Maleeva in straight sets in the third round of the German Open in Berlin.

Top seed Jennifer Capriati remains on course to regain the world number one ranking after seeing off Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan 6-2 6-0.

The American will retake the number one ranking from Venus Williams if she wins the event.

Fourth seed Williams improved her impressive record for the year to 16 wins and two losses with a 7-6 6-4 victory.

Capriati aims to regain the number one spot

But in windy conditions she hit as many wild errors as clean winners while disposing of her Bulgarian opponent in one hour and 33 minutes.

"My serve wasn't consistent, but when it went in, I think it saved me," said Williams. "My mental is there, I'm just waiting for my game to get there.

"But you guys don't have to worry," she added. "I'll win."

Williams dropped the first two games and trailed Maleeva throughout the first set before some powerful serving gave her what proved to be an unassailable 4-1 lead in the tie-break.

The second set proved more straightforward, although Williams saved a break point at 4-3 with another ace.

I worked pretty hard on clay before coming here and I feel it's coming together now

Jennifer Capriati

Capriati continued her clay-court preparations by brushing aside Tulyaganova in just 43 minutes.

The top seed, warming up for the defence of her French Open title - which starts on 27 May in Paris - was in top form against 14th seed.

"I worked pretty hard on clay before coming here and I feel it's coming together now," Capriati said.

"Everything just clicked in for me today."

Capriati has fond memories of Berlin, where she made a big breakthrough as a teenager by reaching the semi-finals 11 years ago.

Belgian fifth seed Justine Henin had a tremendous struggle before overcoming Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 5-7 6-4 6-4.

The former Wimbledon finalist came back from 1-4 down in the third set to grab a place in the last eight.

And Israel's Anna Smashnova followed up her win over Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters on Wednesday with a 7-6 6-0 over Spain's Cristina Torrens-Valero.

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German Open third round results:

(4) Serena Williams (USA) bt Magdalena Maleeva (Bul) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Anna Smashnova (Isr) bt Cristina Torrens Valero (Spa) 7-6 (7-0) 6-0

(1) Jennifer Capriati (USA) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzb) 6-2 6-0

(5) Justine Henin (Bel) bt Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) 5-7 6-4 6-4

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