Williams, the champion in 2000, 2001 and 2005, overpowered the Russian second seed, the 2004 winner, and now faces Sharapova's compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the semifinals.

The American's win, appropriately coming on the Fourth of July, also sets up the prospect of an all-Williams final with sister Serena due to face top seed Justine Henin in the quarterfinals later Wednesday.

Sharapova was simply blown off the Centre Court.

She failed to win a single break point, allowed her opponent a huge 19 opportunities and managed to win just two points off the Williams serve in the entire second set.

Williams set the tone for the early exchanges without lifting a racquet when she took a toilet break before the first ball was hit as the Russian was left kicking her heels on court.

Sharapova's game was picked to pieces in a hopelessly one-sided opening set when she was broken in the fourth and six games in the tricky, blustery conditions.

A sixth double fault gave the American the set after just 33 minutes with Sharapova unable to make any impression on the Williams serve.

Sharapova was under pressure again early in the second set when she had to save five break points in the third game before rain sent the players off for two hours.

On the resumption, that game became a marathon, lasting for 23 minutes with Sharapova going ahead to 2-1 having saved seven break points.

But Williams was comfortably the better player.

Not surprisingly, the Russian buckled and the 27-year-old Williams carved out another deserved break to lead 4-3.

The match was over quickly with Sharapova firing a dispirited forehand into the net after 89 minutes on court.