Wimbledon, England (AHN) - In a match that challenged her in every way imaginable, Serena Williams persevered and moved on to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Williams displayed her incredible desire and fortitude by enduring the rain, a painful calf strain that nearly ended her quest for a third Wimbledon title, a second-set tiebreak loss, and her own self doubt to post a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 win over No. 10 seed Daniela Hantuchova.

Williams, the No. 7 seed, first started to suffer pain in her legs after Hantuchova hit a forehand winner to make it 5-5 in the second set and take a 30-15 lead in the game. She tried to shake off the injury, but then fell to the ground after tapping her left calf with her racket.

She stayed on the ground for seven minutes.

She eventually got up and promptly lost the last two points and conceded the game to fall behind 6-5 to Hantuchova.

She went to the sideline between games and received more treatment.

Williams then took to her serve, mostly just using her arms, and continued to be very limited in her mobility. She still reached 108 mph with the serve, demonstrating her incredible upper body strength.

Williams continued to stumble in pain in between points.

Through her considerable discomfort, she still managed to hold serve, smashing home an ace at 110 mph to even the match at 6-6.

Hantuchova won the first four points of the tiebreak, but Williams captured the next two before the rain came pouring down.

When the rain finally subsided, both players came back out, and Williams was determined to advance, shaking off the injury while regaining some of her mobility. She also came back out after the break against her father/trainer's wishes. Her father, Richard, advised against her return, fearing a more serious injury.

Instead, Williams ignored her father's advice, and looked rough after losing the tiebreaker, 7-2.

However, she regained her focus in the third set and dominated Hantuchova. Williams broke the Slovakian twice in the third set, drawing fist pumps and screams of intense rage after each winner.

Hantuchova finished herself off with an errant return into the net.

Williams will now be headed into a colossal match-up with the world's No. 1 ranked female, Justine Henin. Henin is looking to complete the career grand slam with her first Wimbledon title, though she's been a finalist in each of the last two years.