Wednesday, 2 April, 2008

Svetlana Kuznetsova denied an all-Williams semi-final with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Venus Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday.

The Russian held serve throughout the first set, winning all 14 of her first-serve points. Level at 3-3 in the second set, Kuznetsova broke Williams to go up 4-3 and ended up serving out for the match.

"It was pretty up and downs for me and for her, but I guess I was more consistent and I played better," Kuznetsova said. "I served better. I served more consistently. I didn't have so many aces, but I was more consistent."

Williams was attempting to capture her fourth title at the event and to set up a 16th meeting between her and Serena. Venus Williams won the tournament in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Venus said: "I just didn't have the answers today and she played well. I'm always happy for Serena to win. It would have been obviously very exciting for me to win too, but it just didn't happen."

Younger sister Serena had held up her end of the bargain earlier on Tuesday with an emphatic 6-2 6-0 victory over top seed and world number one Justine Henin.

Henin had won three straight in the series against Serena - claiming quarter-final victories at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open - but was thoroughly outplayed by the American in this encounter. Serena, who beat Henin here in last season's championship match, captured three breaks in each set of the 80-minute match.

"Today I was just was able to - I didn't make as many errors," Serena said. "I stayed positive no matter what happened. I've been practising like a champ. Today I finally started playing a little bit the way I've been practising."

It was another tough loss for the 25-year-old Belgian, who was playing her first tournament since being upset by Francesca Schiavone in the quarter-finals at Dubai.

The semi-final match between Kuznetsova and Serena Williams will be played on Thursday. Williams holds a 3-1 lead in four career meetings.

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