Agony and ecstasy for Williams as rain keeps her Wimbledon afloat

Players and public alike have been cursing the weather here for the last week, but Serena Williams looked up to the skies last night and blew a kiss to the dark clouds that had lurked all day over Centre Court. Three rain breaks had interrupted her fourth-round match against Daniela Hantuchova and the last, enabling the 25-year-old American to have treatment after a muscle spasm in her left leg had left her barely able to walk, kept her tournament alive.

"I was definitely saved by the rain," an emotional Williams said after her 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 victory, which finished more than seven hours after it had begun. "I couldn't move before the rain came."

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The key moment came when Williams fell to the ground clutching her left calf after Hantuchova hit a forehand winner to go 30-15 ahead at 5-5 in the second set. The No 7 seed was in tears and screamed in agony - "I've never dealt with such pain," she said later - as a trainer applied ice to the muscle. Having been treated for the maximum time allowed - three minutes - she got to her feet but was hardly able to move as Hantuchova won the game with an ace and a service winner.

At the subsequent change of ends the trainer had time to strap Williams' leg and, remarkably, the former Wimbledon champion went on to hold her serve. Hantuchova, who it seemed had only to hit into the corners or to play drop shots, instead kept playing the ball straight at Williams, who levelled for 6-6.

Williams, however, was still limping badly and Hantuchova led 4-2 when they changed ends in the tie-break. The American's father, Richard, mother, Oracene, and sister, Venus, were all watching in the stand and as Williams was about to serve Richard looked at her and pointed to the sky. Rain had started to fall and Andrew Jarrett, the referee, called the players off.

They eventually returned 90 minutes later, after Williams had received massage and ice treatment. The American, wearing three-quarter-length leggings, seemed to have trouble moving initially and Hantuchova won the first three points to take the tie-break 7-2.

In the final set, however, Williams gradually recovered, the telling moment coming when Hantuchova played a drop shot in the fourth game. Williams admitted afterwards that it was a shot she would have played in similar circumstances, but the fact that her opponent seemed to be trying to take advantage of her physical difficulties inspired her to new heights. Being able to run freely in attempting to chase the ball down told her that this was a match she could win.

"That pretty much set it off for me," she said afterwards. "After that, I was so motivated to win. I was going to die trying. I don't know why it particularly made me so upset, but it just made me think: 'I'm not going down today. There's no way'."

Williams was true to her word. Hantuchova, her game crumbling under the pressure of Williams' all-or-nothing approach, held for 2-2 but did not win another game.

"It's so hard to play against somebody who you know is struggling," the 24-year-old Slovakian world No 12 said. "You feel sorry and at the same time you have to be tough and still play your game."

She added: "In the third set, I don't think there was anything wrong at all with her. I think she was moving very well. I don't think there can be too much wrong when you serve at 120 miles an hour.

"Definitely I don't think the rain helped me. When somebody's cramping, usually it's because you're getting tired. She had a couple of hours to rest. After that I think she played very well.

"Maybe if I would have kept the ball in play a little longer, had been a little more patient, that could have been different."

Williams, who was struggling with a hamstring injury last week and has performed only fitfully in the first four rounds here, was asked how she would feel if she had lost to a woman playing on one leg. "If she was Serena Williams, I wouldn't feel that bad," she replied.

The prize for Williams is a quarter-final against Justine Henin, the top seed. The American was relieved to learn that the match will not be scheduled until tomorrow at the earliest. It is a repeat of their French Open quarter-final, which Henin won in straight sets. Williams described it as one of the worst matches she had ever played.

Henin needed only 56 minutes yesterday to brush aside Patty Schnyder, winning 6-2, 6-2. It was a no-contest victory from the moment Henin broke in the opening game courtesy of two Schnyder errors. Even after the Swiss broke back at 0-3 she promptly dropped serve again thanks to three double faults.

The Belgian served out for the first set and broke again in the third and seventh games of the second. The world No 1 has dropped just 15 games in her four matches here and has not dropped a set in a Grand Slam tournament since losing in the US Open final to Maria Sharapova last September.

Schnyder, 28, is the world No 15, but although she hit some decent forehands the Swiss was lacking in almost every other area. The only person she might have impressed was the watching Arsène Wenger. Having sold Thierry Henry, the Arsenal manager would presumably like to sign someone who keeps putting the ball in the net as frequently as Schnyder.

"I was a little bit surprised that the match was that quick," Henin said afterwards. "The conditions were pretty tough. It's pretty humid and it's very windy, especially with no roof on the Centre Court."