Venus heading for 7th final

2008-07-01 16:01

London - Defending champion Venus Williams avoided the fate of so many other top seeds at Wimbledon as she eased into the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

The top four in the women's singles were knocked out before the quarter-finals for the first time in Grand Slam history this year, but Williams had no intention of joining Ana Ivanovic, Jelana Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Wimbledon hall of shame.

The seventh seeded American knew Tamarine had taken Jankovic's scalp in the previous round and responded with a no-frills display that was enough to set up a last four clash against Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva or Nadia Petrova.

Williams is now just one victory away from making it seven Wimbledon finals in the last nine years and the possibility of a showdown with her sister Serena.

Tamarine, ranked 60th, was the first Thai to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final and the 31-year-old can depart with her head held high after a gutsy display.

Centre Court snub

Just 24 hours after Venus had moaned that the defending champion shouldn't have to suffer the indignity of playing on Court Two - the unglamorous venue for Williams's fourth round win over Alisa Kleybanova - she was once again given a Centre Court snub.

At least she was back in the more familiar surroundings of Court One against an opponent she had never lost to in six meetings.

Tamarine, the oldest player left in the women's singles, started nervously, allowing Williams to break in the third game.

Williams wasn't firing on all cylinders herself and two unforced errors gifted Tamarine an immediate break back.

But the former world number one broke again and, when Tamarine wasted six break points in the next game, the match turned in Williams's favour for good.

She served out the set and broke in the first game of the second set to take control with a minimum of fuss.

Another break in the ninth game was enough to seal the match and keep Williams on course for the final.

- AFP