Venus negotiates Davenport test to reach semis

Venus Williams won the battle of the former champions when she wore down Lindsay Davenport to stride into the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Venus Williams won the battle of the former champions when she wore down fellow American Lindsay Davenport 6-2 2-6 6-1 to stride into the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday.

HT Image

Fourth seed Venus, the winner here in 2000 and 2001, reached her fourth consecutive semi-final at the All England Club as she finally overpowered Davenport from the baseline to set up a showdown with second seed Kim Clijsters.

Unperturbed by a 80-minute rain break early in the contest, Venus clubbed the 1999 champion from the baseline in the opening set as Davenport's forehand rapidly started to collapse.

Breaking the brittle Davenport serve for the third time in the match, Venus claimed the first set with a blazing forehand crosscourt winner.

But Davenport refused to surrender her title hopes and frustrated her opponent in the second with a flurry of blistering groundstrokes to level the match after Venus floated a service return long.

The world number four, however, kept her nerve in a high-octane final set to seal victory after one hour 27 minutes with a bludgeoning smash.