Serena, Venus reach semifinals

WIMBLEDON, England -- Serena Williams smacked one last volley to complete a quarterfinal comeback at Wimbledon, then let out a shriek and raised her arms. She still gets a kick out of beating Jennifer Capriati.

Williams overcame an erratic start Tuesday to defeat Capriati for the eighth consecutive time, winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The defending champion will next face Justine Henin-Hardenne, an upset winner in their French Open semifinal four weeks ago.

"I have no nerves, I've been in this position so many times," Williams said.

Henin-Hardenne, seeded third, beat No. 33 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-2.

Williams joined her older sister in the semifinals. Venus Williams, the Wimbledon champion in 2000 and 2001, won the final five games and the last 11 points to beat No. 5 Lindsay Davenport 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

A possible farewell

Davenport, the 1999 champion, said the match may have been her last at Wimbledon.

"There are absolutely no plans made," said Davenport, 27. "It's not saying that it's over. It's just saying that I'm not sure."

Venus Williams, like her sister, will play a Belgian in the semifinals -- No. 2 Kim Clijsters, who was stung by a bee but rallied past No. 27 Silvia Farina Elia 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

At one point midway through her match, Serena Williams had committed 20 unforced errors to four for Capriati. But the top-seeded Williams became more patient, winning one rally that lasted 28 strokes, and swept seven consecutive games to take the lead for good.

"She had to play her best tennis there to raise her game completely to beat me," Capriati said. "I don't think I gave her the match. She had to step it up."

There were numerous long rallies, and Williams described them as "fantastic."

"I enjoyed them all," she said. "I didn't win them all, but I definitely enjoyed them because it gets me focused for the big players. I know what I'm up against."

She will get a chance to avenge her loss at Henin-Hardenne at Paris, where French fans cheered mistakes by Williams and jeered her afterward, reducing her to tears. There was more: Williams accused Henin-Hardenne of cheating by calling a timeout and then not acknowledging it.

Henin-Hardenne takes no hard feelings into the rematch.

"We're professional enough to do this," she said. "There is no problem between each other."

In the completion of the final fourth-round match, suspended Monday night because of darkness, No. 13-seeded Sebastien Grosjean beat French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).

Grosjean, whose win left the men's quarterfinals with no former Grand Slam champion, will play No. 10 Tim Henman today.

Today's lineup

No. 4 Roger Federer is scheduled to face No. 8 Sjeng Schalken, but both are hobbling.

No. 5 Andy Roddick will face Jonas Bjorkman. Unseeded Mark Philippoussis, who hit 46 aces Monday to upset Andre Agassi, will play Alexander Popp of Germany, ranked No. 198.

Seeking to end a nine-match losing streak against the Williams sisters, the No. 8-seeded Capriati started fast. She broke for a 2-1 lead, then again when Williams committed three consecutive unforced errors to make it 5-2.

But Williams began to find the range with her serve and groundstrokes. Beginning at 2-2 in the second set, Williams turned dominant, winning that set and racing to a 3-0 in the next.

Capriati made one last charge. She won a 31-shot rally and held serve to trail 5-3, then had two break points in the next game. But Williams erased them and closed the victory with a backhand volley that Capriati couldn't handle.

It's the fourth time in a row that Capriati has lost to Williams after winning the first set. Capriati, who last beat Williams in the 2001 Wimbledon quarterfinals, said the difference this time was her opponent's overpowering serve and groundstrokes.

"If I'm never going to win because of that, then that's OK," Capriati said. "What can I do? You've just got to give her the praise and the credit she deserves."

Venus Williams dropped a set for the first time in the tournament but still improved to 25-1 at Wimbledon over the past four years.

"If you get this far, you have to be doing something right," said Venus, seeded No. 4. "I'll just have to keep on with the same things."

Williams led 2-0 in the first set when play was suspended for 1 hour, 22 minutes because of rain. Davenport won the first two games when the match resumed, before Williams regained control and won four straight games to take the set.

Three times in the set Williams held at love. She was broken in the opening game of the second set, however, and Davenport rallied thanks to excellent serving. With three consecutive service winners in the final game of the set, she evened the match.

"Lindsay played so well, and I just had to stay on my toes the whole match," Williams said. "I just kept searching for the answers."

But the 1999 champion couldn't recover after she lost her serve to fall behind 3-1 in the final set. She hasn't beaten Williams since 2000 and trails the rivalry 12-10.

Clijsters was stung on the stomach by a bee during her opening set -- the first she has lost in the tournament. But she won nine consecutive games to take control and closed the victory with three aces in the final game.

"I just had to find my footwork," said Clijsters, the French Open runner-up. "I felt like I wasn't moving as well as I have been. Once I found it I started playing very well."