Melbourne, Australia ? Lisa Raymond followed her stunning victory over Venus Williams with an easier one, defeating wild-card entry Tatiana Golovin, 6-2, 6-0, today to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.

The 25th-seeded Raymond equaled her best performance in 44 previous Grand Slam tournaments. She reached the quarters at Wimbledon in 2000.

“It would have been pretty easy for me to have the letdown after playing so well against Venus,” Raymond said.

“I just went out there and just kept playing the way I’ve been playing. I was able to play well, so I felt good about how I handled the situation.”

Her quarterfinal opponent is Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, seeded 22nd, who had a 6-2, 6-4 win over Nathalie Decy of France.

Second-seeded Kim Clijsters joined them in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Silvia Farina Elia.

Clijsters will play sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who rallied for a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win over ninth-seeded Chanda Rubin.

Myskina also beat Rubin in the fourth round at the Australian last year before losing to Clijsters in the quarterfinals.

With the host nation celebrating Australia Day, two of the country’s best chances for winning a title figured in center-court matches.

Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time major winner, faced Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, while No. 10 Mark Philippoussis played Hicham Arazi in fourth-round action.

Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian will play the winner of the Federer-Hewitt match after his fourth-round 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over fellow Argentine Guillermo Canas.

Nalbandian, who lost the 2002 Wimbledon final to Hewitt, hasn’t dropped a set in four matches.

Raymond won the last 11 points of her match. She made the most of her French opponent’s 22 errors, including a double-fault on break point in the opening game of the second set.

At 30, Raymond has won four singles titles on the tour and 42 doubles championships. She has won three Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, but lost with Martina Navratilova in the second round at this event.

“I haven’t really played my best tennis in the Grand Slams. For me to be able to play this kind of tennis here in Australia is great,” Raymond said.

Golovin, who celebrated her 16th birthday Sunday, had only one win on the WTA Tour before arriving at Melbourne Park. She was ranked No. 354.

Golovin earned $58,000 for reaching the fourth round.

“My goal was to get one or two rounds, so it’s great I lost in the fourth,” she said. “I’m a little disappointed in my match. I wasn’t moving very well, and I had to play my best tennis against her if I wanted to win, and it didn’t really happen.”

Clijsters dropped serve once in each set against Elia but was otherwise happy with her progress. She was sidelined for two weeks before the tournament after injuring her left ankle in the Hopman Cup.

Clijsters showed no signs of her sprained ankle, at one point sprinting in from behind the baseline to flick a drop volley just over Elia’s head.

In other women’s matches Sunday, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo. Henin-Hardenne moved into quarterfinal against 2000 champion Lindsay Davenport, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over No. 11 Vera Zvonareva.