WIMBLEDON, England – For three years now, she has played in her kid sister’s shadow, muddling through their hyped-up meetings and inviting criticism from everyone who watches. Her forehand is too erratic, her serve is unreliable in tense moments, and her heart often seems to be elsewhere. Once the lead performer of the world’s most formidable tennis duo, she has become the second sister, and more recently, second rate.

What a relief it must be for Venus Williams to have the All England Club to herself in this year’s second week. Serena, the victim of an unknown veteran in the third round, has gone home and left the rest to Venus. Yesterday, the big sister did not disappoint, dispatching Mary Pierce 6-0, 7-6 (10).

In the first set, the clock was turned back to 2000,the beginning of a two-year stretch during which Venus won four of eight Grand Slams. There was Williams, pounding her serve and stepping inside the baseline on Pierce’s. The French Open finalist was as overwhelmed as a Williams opponent of old, feebly trying to keep the rallies going. Venus’s power was too much, and Pierce’s timing was off. The set lasted just 21 minutes.

But Pierce, 30, is too good and too experienced to just pack up her bags and call it a tournament. After six deuces and two break points, she won her first game of the match to even the second set at 1-1.The crowd, strongly in her favor throughout the match, cheered loudly as Pierce grinned. The fight was on.

Over the next 10 games, both women displayed impressive power and poise – neither one faced a break point again. In the first set, Williams returned all but one of Pierce’s serves and won all seven points off the Frenchwoman’s second serve. Pierce improved dramatically in the second set, though, aiming more for the center line and winning 66% of her service points. Williams was even better, missing just four of her 46 first serves in the second set, a clip of 91%. While she took a little speed off on a gusty day, she hardly served slowly, averaging around 103 mph for the match.

The tiebreak offered the best tennis of the contest. One can usually tell that a Williams match has become tense when she starts to shriek with each stroke. And shriek she did in the tiebreak, at times to the disapproval of the crowd. Pierce hit a service winner for a 6-4 lead.

Given a chance to even the match, Pierce slipped. First, she missed a routine forehand, then hit a swinging backhand volley that cleared the baseline by 10 feet or more. Williams, who had hit several difficult returns to stay in the point, threw her hands up and her head back. She would save two more set points before earning match point with a volley and then winning it on a long backhand by Pierce.

“To pull that out and not have to go to a third set is really good,” Williams said. “I mean, that could have been a finals match, how well she played.”

Williams had not advanced past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since she lost in the finals here to Serena in 2003. After the match, she said this is the healthiest she has felt since tearing a stomach muscle that year, an injury that still nags her if she plays too often.

“I’m fine,” she said. “But I can’t play a lot.”

Her father, Richard Williams, believes Venus can play often enough to reach no. 1 in world, according to television interviews he gave yesterday. And he’s picking her to win Wimbledon, too. To do that, Williams needs to win twice more, first against Maria Sharapova on Thursday.

The defending champion yesterday improved her play for the fifth straight match and received two generous breaks from the net cord in her 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over countrywoman Nadia Petrova.

Sharapova’s serve is quickly becoming the best in the women’s game. She was near flawless in terms of variety and placement yesterday, despite the wind and her unusually lofty ball toss. She served 73% on first serves and won 77% of those points, along with 68% of points on her second serve. She faced only one break point.

Petrova, who serves harder than Sharapova, saved two set points in the first set tiebreak. But Sharapova hit her best return of the match at 6-6, a backhand to the outside corner that set up a winning forehand. She finished off the set by clobbering a short return into the corner with her forehand.

Petrova nearly climbed back into the match when Sharapova double-faulted for break point at 5-3 in the second set. Fate, however, was not on her side. Sharapova won the next two points on shots that clipped the net and tumbled over. Petrova could not retrieve one, and could only swipe the other into the net.

“I thanked the fairy for taking the ball and bringing it over the net,” Sharapova said.

Against Williams, Sharapova will have the advantage at the baseline, where she is far more consistent. Williams mostly abandoned her net game yesterday, though she did venture forward at times in the second set. Once there, she was a perfect 10-for-10. She will have to come in more against Sharapova rather than try to win a slugfest from the baseline.

Petrova seemed to understand this, too, though her lack of skill at the net was evident on several points. Even so, she won 10 out of 13 points from up close. If Williams takes one stat to bed with her this evening, that ought to be it.