Fantastic Four Moves Into SFs

Venus Williams was in devastating form once again at her very best tournament, crushing Agnieszka Radwanska, 61 62, in the quarterfinals of The Championships on Tuesday to take one step closer to an amazing sixth career singles title at the grass court Grand Slam.

Williams, the No.3 seed and a five-time champion at Wimbledon already, was in complete control from start to finish against Radwanska, the No.11 seed, who is also an accomplished grass court player, having won Eastbourne last year and appearing in her second straight quarterfinal at the All-England Club. But it didn't seem to matter too much, as Williams blasted 29 winners and won 21 of 27 net approaches to beat the Polish talent on Court 1 in just 68 minutes.

"Do I feel invincible? I'd like to say yes, but I really do work at it," Williams said. "That first set for me was almost perfect. In the second set I got impatient the first couple of games, but I was able to bring it back and realized I had to hit a few more balls, because everyone lifts their game, especially after that first set."

"It's very hard to do anything if Venus is having a good day," Radwanska said. "I was trying, but she was too tough on the grass. If she keeps playing like this, I think she will make it one more time at this tournament."

Next up for Williams will be world No.1 Dinara Safina, who reached her first Wimbledon semifinal with a 67(5) 64 61 win over Sabine Lisicki. Safina, the top seed this fortnight, lost a tight first set to the unseeded Lisicki but after evening things up in the second set totally cruised, despite hitting 15 double faults. Safina had never been beyond the third round of Wimbledon before this year - now, she has been to the semifinals or better at all four majors, including finals at the Australian Open (2009) and French Open (2008 and 2009).

"She's No.1 in the world. I respect her a lot," said Lisicki, who had beaten two Top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki, en route to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. "I knew it would be a tough match. I just went out there to fight. I gave it all I had, but she was just fitter than me today."

Williams is 2-1 against Safina, winning their first two matches in straight sets, both on hardcourts last fall, but losing a marathon three-setter on the clay of Rome earlier this year. This will be their first meeting on grass.

"This is definitely Venus' best surface. She loves playing here. I have nothing to lose," Safina said. "I played her in Rome and I beat her, so I know what she's doing, I know her weapons, and I just want to go out there and play my best."

Just minutes after Safina reached the final four, No.4 seed Elena Dementieva did the same, completing a handy 62 62 win over another surprise unseeded quarterfinalist, Francesca Schiavone. Dementieva reached her first Wimbledon semifinal one year ago, and will now contest the final four for a second straight year. She will next face No.2 seed Serena Williams, who stopped No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka in the last quarterfinal match of the day, 62 63.

Williams won her last meeting with Dementieva, in the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year, but the Russian won their three meetings just prior to that, at Moscow in 2007, the Olympics in 2008 and in Sydney the week before the Australian Open. Williams leads the series, 5-3.

"It's always interesting to play against someone like Serena. She's a great champion, and whatever happens, it'll be a good experience for me," said Dementieva, who lost to Venus Williams here a year ago. "I just want to see how tough I can be out there against her. I'm just looking for a good fight."

The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the All-England Club.