TOKYO, Feb 5: Venus Williams breezed past Japan's Saori Obata 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the $1.3 million Pan Pacific Open on Thursday.

The top seed, in her second tournament since a six-month injury layoff, played well within herself but still had too much power for Obata, taking 66 minutes to win her first match in Tokyo.

Williams struggled with her serve but otherwise showed no sign of the abdominal injury that sidelined her after she lost to younger sister Serena in last year's Wimbledon final. However, Venus bristled when asked if she had "gone easy" on Obata in front of her home crowd.

"Wow, loaded question!" snapped Venus, who was upset in the third round of the Australian Open in her comeback last month.

On a more conciliatory note, she paid tribute to the "respectful" Japanese gallery.

"I don't always feel I'm appreciated for what I do. I don't expect to be everyone's hero but I do expect respect...so it was a refreshing change. You don't get that total respect anywhere else in the world."

The former world number one will face fellow American Chanda Rubin in Friday's quarterfinals.

Grimacing with pain, fifth seed Rubin battled through a knee injury to beat Japan's Akiko Morigami 7-5 6-7 6-3.

Meanwhile, Russian Elena Dementieva's poor start to 2004 continued as she was beaten 7-6 6-3 by compatriot Tatiana Panova.

Third seed Dementieva, who crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open after complaining of a fever, fell apart after losing the first-set tiebreak 7-5 and failed to push Panova in the second.

"I was playing bad today. I couldn't focus at all and found it difficult to find a rhythm," said Dementieva.

"Hopefully, I am just having a few bad days. I'm confident I'll start playing well again."

Panova next plays seventh seed Jelena Dokic, who overcame Slovakia's Janette Husarova 7-6 6-7 6-1.

Fourth seed Ai Sugiyama comfortably beat Belgian Els Callens 6-3 6-3. The Japanese number one will play Magdalena Maleeva next after the Bulgarian thrashed American Laura Granville 6-1 6-3.

Meanwhile, Pan Pacific Open organisers were left red-faced after a female spectator fell four metres after slipping through a loose floorboard in a temporary stand and had to be taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Results:

Second round: Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Laura Granville (U.S.) 6-1 6-3; 7-Jelena Dokic (Serbia & Montenegro) beat Janette Husarova (Slovakia) 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (2-7) 6-1; 1-Venus Williams (U.S.) beat Saori Obata (Japan) 6-3 6-4; 4-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Els Callens (Belgium) 6-3 6-3; 5-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) beat Akiko Morigami (Japan) 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-3; Tatiana Panova (Russia) beat 3-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. -Reuters