Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was pushed to the limit before beating third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 4-6 6-1 7-6 to reach the US Open semi-finals.
Twice champion Williams, the 12th seed, belted a forehand winner to capture the third-set tiebreak 7-4 and set up a clash with top seed Justine Henin tomorrow.
Jankovic charged into a 4-1 lead after claiming two service breaks in the hard-hitting first set. She gave one break back but held serve in the 10th game to clinch it.
Williams raised her level and her aggression in response, breaking the Serb in every one of her service games in the second set to draw level.
The American poured in 60 winners against 17 for Jankovic, also registering 56 errors with her all-out attack. She charged the net 55 times, winning 39 points in the process.
The pressure-packed third set stayed on serve until the tiebreak, although Jankovic had a break point in the eighth game and challenged the American through a deuce game in the 12th before Williams held.
Williams moved into a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak after a series of forehand errors by Jankovic, who clawed back to 6-4 before the Wimbledon champion cracked her winning forehand to end the two-hour, 27-minute match.
Williams said she would love to avenge her sister Serena's loss to Henin in the quarter-finals.
'I wasn't happy with the result at all, to say the very least,' she said. 'I was sad that Serena lost because I didn't like to see her so upset. I definitely have to try to win for Williams.'
Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, the 2004 champion, will play sixth-seeded compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the other semi.
