Venus in line for fourth straight win

NEW HAVEN, AUG. 25. Red hot Venus Williams kept alive her bid for a fourth straight title moving into the semifinals in New Haven by dismissing Swiss left-hander Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2 in just 61 minutes.

The top-seeded American extended her run to 17 straight match victories, a streak that includes titles at Wimbledon, Stanford and San Diego.

Despite the relative ease of her victory in the final tune-up for the year's last Grand Slam, Williams on Thursday again failed to find the form she will need if she is to wrestle the U.S. Open title from her sister Serena. She served up six double-faults, was foot-faulted twice, and did not fully impose herself against an opponent who failed to make the most of her chances.

``When I have a bad day my balls fly long and I couldn't stop them. But I was able to contain it, control it to a degree and there was the match,'' said Williams, who insisted she could take her game up a notch when necessary.

``I'm gradually moving forward, and if I'm playing a top 10 player for sure I'm going to play better,'' she said. ``I think I have the ability to raise the level of my game.''

Thursday's match was not pretty. There were seven breaks of serve in the first set and each player produced more errors than winners.

When Williams broke in the 10th game to take the set, Schnyder was issued a warning for racket abuse after throwing it in frustration from the baseline to her chair.

In the second set, Williams gained just one break to lead 4-2 when she came in on a short ball and hit a double-handed volley. She struggled to hold on to the break in the next game, saving a break point, before taking Schnyder's serve again for the match.

``As far as playing today and the other day, I think I played better today,'' Williams said.

Williams now plays fifth-seeded South African Amanda Coetzer, who rallied to beat Justine Henin of Belgium 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in a rain- delayed match, and then overcame fourth seed Anke Huber of Germany 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

lThe results: Quarterfinals: Venus Williams bt Patty Schnyder 6- 4, 6-2;

Amanda Coetzer bt Anke Huber 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; Nathalie Tauziat bt Kim Clijsters 6-2, 6-4.

Prequarterfinals: Coetzer bt Justine Henin 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Huber bt Ai Sugiyama 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Clijsters bt Fabiola Zuluaga 6-1, 6-1.

- Reuters

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Indian boys lose third match
Next     : Nirupama loses