No sweat

Venus, Agassi, Henin-Hardenne through to semis

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Venus Williams slammed down powerful aces, and Andre Agassi used precision serves as both advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open.

After spectators loudly called some of her shots out, Williams responded with a burst of winners midway through the first set that helped carry her to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over seventh-ranked Daniela Hantuchova on Tuesday.

Williams also served six aces at speeds of up to 125 mph, shown as 201 kilometers per hour on the board.

"I don't know if I served well, but did everyone see the 201?" Venus asked in a post-match interview. "I was surprised when I saw that speed. I got a bit distracted, so I said, "Venus, focus back on the match."'

She's been concentrating on accuracy over speed since producing the fastest recorded serve in women's tennis, clocking 127 mph at Zurich in 1998. But her powerful serve had her thinking of changing her tactics.

"Now I'm going to start trying to see if I can serve it even bigger than the record," Williams said.

Williams got match point with a backhand crosscourt winner on the run, losing her earring in the process. She replaced the jewelry, composed herself and won it on the next point when Hantuchova sent a backhand long.

Venus was testing the limits of her serve and groundstrokes. Her five double faults and 32 unforced errors giving Hantuchova some free points and contributing to a dropped service game in each set.

"I was fortunate to get through," Williams said. "I don't think Daniela played as well as she wanted to today."

She will meet No. 5 seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semifinal after the Belgian beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-2.

Henin-Hardenne, who tumbled to the court with leg cramps in a 3 1/2-hour fourth-round win over former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport on Sunday, dropped her opening service game and trailed 0-2 before she rallied to win eight in a row.

"I've played a lot of close matches against Venus. I believe in my chances and I will go on court to win the match," said Henin-Hardenne, who lost to Williams in the 2001 Wimbledon final.

The 20-year-old Belgian withdrew from doubles Monday and couldn't practice.

"I was in very bad shape -- I was sure I was going to be better today for sure because I slept a little bit better last night and had a lot of massage," she said. "It was hard to take my responsibilities and go in this quarterfinal because I was tired, and the win the match."

Venus Williams has a 6-1 record against Henin-Hardenne and a semifinal win could set up another final against her sister Serena, who is on the top half of the draw and faces Meghann Shaughnessy in a Wednesday quarterfinal. Serena is aiming for a fourth consecutive major to complete her "Serena Slam."

Hantuchova came close to beating Venus here in the third-round last year, but slipped to 0-4 against the world No. 2.

In the 10th game, Hantuchova led 40-15 on serve but made errors on the next three points.

"That serve was incredible," Hantuchova said. "I have to improve the speed of my serve."

Agassi, a three-time Australian Open winner, didn't serve at faster than 117 mph in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, but he was more clinical in advancing to the last four of a Grand Slam for the 23rd time.

Agassi continued his stress-free run at Melbourne Park, where he hasn't lost a match since 1999 and has dropped just one set -- against Nicolas Escude in the third round -- in this tournament.

He'll meet fellow 30-something Wayne Ferreira in the semis after the veteran South African upset fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Ferreira, playing in his 49th consecutive Grand Slam and into his first Grand Slam semifinal since the 1992 Australian Open, set up his second match point with a forehand winner and clinched it with an inside-out forehand.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, runnerup at the last French Open, struggled with his forehand and couldn't combat the relentless ground strokes of the 31-year-old Ferreira.

Ferreira only got 53 percent of his first serves into play, but 46 winners to 30 by Ferrero.

"I played so well from the back and hit my backhand so well, so that helped me out from my bad serving," he said.

Ferrero said he played badly and lost his confidence after squandering breaks in the first two sets and losing both in tiebreakers.

"I had 2-0 in both sets, then 40-15 at 5-4 in the second. I had so many chances," he said. "Losing the first two sets 7-6, 7-6, it's very tough to come back. Tennis is like this."

If Agassi gets past Ferreira and then wins a fourth title Down Under, it could also force a comeback by his wife, former No. 1 Steffi Graf. Agassi said Graf "has" to play mixed doubles with him at the French Open if he wins at Melbourne Park. Graf, now 33, retired in July 1999, weeks after winning at Roland Garros to collected her 22 career singles Grand Slam.

Agassi said the timing of the Australian Open, in the heat of the Australian summer, worked in his favor.

"It helps that it's January," he said. "I think a lot of players take a break at the end (of the year). That's where I learned to prepare and come here ready."

The 32-year-old American worked Grosjean around the court and increased the tempo at the decisive moments.

In the eighth game of the second set, Agassi trailed 30-0 on Grosjean's serve. He reeled off consecutive backhand winners and forced back-to-back errors to clinch the set.

Coming off a five-set win over Felix Mantilla when he rallied from two sets down, Grosjean had played 3 1/2 hours longer in his previous matches than Agassi.

Grosjean, a semifinalist here in 2001, couldn't match the consistency, timing or intensity of the seven-time Grand Slam champion.

Agassi got 65 percent of his first serves into play and won almost 80 percent of those points. He only had 14 errors to 40 by Grosjean and converted six of his 18 breakpoint chances, although that figure was distorted when the Frenchman saved eight break points in a 15-minute game to tie at 1-all in the third set.

"He never dropped his level. I lost against a great Agassi today," Grosjean said.

The pair had been 2-2 in head-to-heads, although Agassi also beat Grosjean in the final of the Kooyong exhibition tournament 10 days earlier. The last two times Agassi won the Kooyong event -- in 2000 and 2001 -- he also won the Australian Open. An injury kept him out last year.

Grosjean got only 47 percent of his first serves into play, which compounded his problems.

"It was really tough because I had no serve," Grojean said. "When you're up against the best returner of serve in the world, you're in trouble."

 

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