Venus joins Serena in semifinals

New York:

Venus Williams reduced her US Open quarterfinal against Monica Seles to something akin to an instructional video. The two-time defending champion simply had too much in every department and beat Seles 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday night to join younger sister Serena in the semifinals. Venus, trying to become the first woman to win three straight US Opens since Chris Evert took four in a row from 1975-78, plays 10th-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France next. Mauresmo came back to beat Jennifer Capriati of the United States 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Against Seles, Venus set the tone by breaking serve in the opening game with a backhand drop shot as her father, Richard, took photos from the stands. Venus finished with 23 winners to six for Seles and won the point on 17 of 20 trips to the net. "I don't think Monica played her best today. I know she was expecting to play better," Venus said. "Being so windy out here made it more difficult." So did having to play Venus, who dropped just one point on her serve in the first set, and a total of seven in the entire match. Venus faced just one break point, at 4-3 in the second set, and quickly erased it by drilling an ace at 112 mph. "She just served too well," Seles said. "I couldn't read it at all." The other women's semifinal will have top-seeded Serena -- who lost to Venus in the 2001 Open final and beat her for the titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year -- against fellow American Lindsay Davenport. They won quarterfinals on Tuesday. Hewitt wins Defending men's champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia reached the final four by beating No. 20 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 6-1, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2 on Wednesday. Andre Agassi, seeded No. 6, advanced to the semifinals by beating No. 32 seed Max Mirnyi 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. (AP)