London – Not one top-10 seed has made the women’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Serena Williams will be there, though, after she moved a step closer to an eighth title at the All England Club.

Williams reached her 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina 6-4, 6-2 on Monday, and never looked likely to join the parade of favorites who have been eliminated.  If Williams were to win the title, it would be her third in the past four years.

No. 7 Karolina Pliskova became the last of the top-10 seeds to be knocked out, losing to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

Since seeds were introduced in the 1920s, it’s the first time none of the top-10 have reached the women’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon. It’s also a first for any Grand Slam tournament in the 50-year professional era.

Williams is seeded 25th after returning from having a baby, but is looking like her usual dominant self on the grass courts. In a matchup of the only two mothers remaining in the draw, she jumped into a 3-0 lead in both sets and wrapped up the win in 62 minutes.

Rodina, who upset 10th-seeded Madison Keys in the previous round, broke back for 3-2 in the second set but was broken to love straight away.

“It was tougher than the scoreline,” Williams said. “I knew we were both moms, and I’m not sure how often that’s happened, if ever. So it’s really cool. You can be a mom, you can still play tennis and you can still be great.”

 

(The Associated Press contributed to this post)