CoCo and Keys make it three Americans in last eight

Her mother Tauna, a real “60s child” according to Vandeweghe, who gave her four children nicknames Coco, Beau, Honey and Crash, was a ex- Olympic swimmer while her grandfather played for the New York Knicks in the ’50s.

“She was moving around in the middle of my motion on my second serve”, said Vandeweghe.

The 23-year-old claims her once-household American name does not weigh heavily, but the exploits of her relatives doubtless adds pressure.

But Sharapova is not underestimating the younger competitor and according to Stevegtennis.com, she said: “I think it’s been a tremendous effort for her to get to this stage”. She won the Australian Open and French Open before coming to the All England Club, and needs the Wimbledon and USA Open titles to complete the set.

Defeat for Vandeweghe ends her best-ever grand slam showing – but should also put a stop to a lengthy bout of soul-searching for her true persona in professional tennis.

“I’ve played five matches already, I’ve faced different challenges, matches, opponents, circumstances – the first four matches I was playing quite well and got the job done in two sets”, Sharapova said.

The players had walked out to cheers from the crowd but the entry proved premature, with umbrellas going up and the rain covers hurriedly pulled across Court One as the pair returned to the locker room. “You know, when I felt like it wasn’t being reciprocated, that’s when I spoke with the umpire for her to deal with”. Williams defeated Vandeweghe in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. Serving at 3-4, 30-40 in the eighth game of the third set, she smacked an easy forehand into the net and handed Radwanska the decisive break. Sharapova is winning at least 72 percent of her first serve points and 29 percent of her second serve points.

Before she can think about extending that dominant run against Sharapova, Williams – chasing a 21st major title and potential calendar Grand Slam – must see off Azarenka. “She was playing really well and I wasn’t play as smart as I wanted”.

35 – The shortest match of the Championships so far was Petra Kvitova’s first-round victory against Kiki Bertens in just 35 minutes.

The Swiss, who reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open last month, said it did not matter that one out of her, Muguruza, Radwanska and Keys would reach the Wimbledon final.

The 21-year-old 20th seed won 7-5 6-3 to reach the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Vandeweghe had never been beyond the third round of a Grand Slam before this year’s Wimbledon.

Keys, meanwhile, will face a more nuanced player in Agnieszka Radwanska. “So I think this is a good steppingstone to follow into the US Open summer series”.

Venus came in playing stronger than she has in years.

Djokovic will next face Marin Cilic on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Vandeweghe will play ex- champion and fourth-seed Maria Sharapova, who cruised past Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-4. “This helps me a lot against these types of players”.