Venus Williams moved comfortably into her second Australian Open semi-final with a straight-sets victory over Daniela Hantuchova in Melbourne overnight. The American number two seed was not at her scintillating best on the Rod Laver Arena, but took just an hour and 15 minutes to record a 6-4 6-3 victory.
Hantuchova was beaten in the Australian Open by Williams last year and never looked capable of gaining revenge. The Slovakian did level from a break down in each set, but could not edge her nose in front as Williams sealed a semi-final tie against either Justine Henin-Hardenne or Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Williams blasted an ace timed at 201 kilometres per hour, the fastest by any woman since 2001 and just four kph off her world record of 205 kph which she clocked at Zurich in 1998. Indeed it was 12 kph faster than Andre Agassi's best effort in his victory over Sebastian Grosjean.
However, the American claimed she was not at her best in the match, but was happy to reach her 12th Grand Slam semi-final. She said: "I think I had a lot of errors and I also think that Daniela did not play her best. But I think, in general, it was my best match of the tournament. Of course I'm my best critic, I'm always looking for things I can do better after each match, unless it was perfect."
Speaking of the mammoth serve, Williams admitted: "I don't know if I served that well but did you see that one at 201? I thought 'wow' and I got a bit distracted by it and had to tell myself to refocus." But she added: "Now I'm going to see if I can serve it even bigger than the record."
Meanwhile, Justine Henin-Hardenne put together a run of eight consecutive games to form the backbone of a resilient straight-sets win over Virginia Ruano Pascual. The Australian Open's fifth seed was forced to work harder han the 6-2 6-2 scoreline suggests, but she was ultimately a class apart in booking a tantalising semi-final clash with Venus Williams. The 20-year-old was not at her freshest after Sunday's marathon victory over Lindsay Davenport, which had prompted her withdrawal from the doubles event yesterday.
Filed by Shane Murray
