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Tennis
Venus in semifinals
PARIS, FEB. 9. Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Venus Williams beat Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 6-2, 6-1 to move into the semifinals of the $ 585,000 Paris WTA tournament here yesterday.
However top-seeded Williams will face a more daunting task if she is to make the final as she now faces France's defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, the No. 3 seed, in the semifinal. Mauresmo defeated unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Only 13 ranking places separate Venus and Mauresmo on the WTA computer, but on Friday's evidence they were worlds apart. ``It may have looked easy but players are always trying to beat you - they have nothing to lose,'' said Williams. ``There are never easy points - if it looks easy then I am happy because it means that I am playing well and serving well. Nobody is giving me the points - I have to win them and then build on that.''
History favours a Williams win in the semifinal - she has won both their previous meetings at the Australian Open in 1998 and 2001.
Meanwhile, evergreen Monica Seles continued to defy the years as well as extending her dominance over Justine Henin when she brushed aside the challenge of the Belgian girl 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. It was Seles' fourth career triumph over Henin, who was Wimbledon runner-up last year, and she now faces Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic for a place in the final. lThe results (quarterfinals): Venus Williams bt Silvia Farina Elia 6-2, 6-1; Amelie Mauresmo bt Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2; Monica Seles bt Justine Henin 6-4, 6-3; Jelena Dokic bt Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
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