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Serena, Venus earn date with Belgians ( 2003-07-02 09:13) (Reuters)
A double-barrelled shootout between the United States and Belgium looms at Wimbledon after Serena and Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne won their quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Revenge will again be in the air when the top seed meets Henin in a semi-final grudge rematch on Thursday. The Belgian third seed, who left Serena in tears after controversially beating her in the French Open semi-finals last month, demolished Russian debutante Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-2 in her quarter-final. "Serena is going to be very motivated, I know that," said Henin. "It's going to be a different match. She likes the grass. It is probably going to be more difficult for myself than at the French Open." Her compatriot Clijsters, the second seed, overcame a painful bee sting to beat Italian Sylvia Farina Elia 5-7 6-0 6-1 victory and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. She faces a semi-final against fourth seed Venus, the 2000 and 2001 champion, who maintained her grand slam domination over fellow American Lindsay Davenport on Centre Court with a 6-2 2-6 6-1 success. In the remaining men's fourth round match, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean completed a four-set victory over Spanish third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, having led two sets to one overnight. Grosjean will have an entire nation against him on Wednesday when he takes on Briton Tim Henman in the quarter-finals. Serena's draining victory had Centre Court spellbound as she recovered from a first-set drubbing by Capriati, who has never won the Wimbledon crown. Displaying the guts of a champion, Serena hauled herself back into the match with some brutal serving and back court athleticism. The American yelped with delight and relief after holding her nerve to serve out for victory at 5-3 against one of her fiercest rivals. "It was tough. It's very exciting...but I've been in this position so many times," said the Wimbledon, Australian and US Open champion. "I have no nerves."
CLIJSTERS STUNG On court one Farina, 31, produced a gutsy display to steal the first set off Clijsters having saved three set points at 4-5. The Belgian later said she had suffered a bee sting to her stomach at the vital moment of the 10th game. "It's never happened to me before...(but) it was painful. I can still feel it," said Clijsters who is seeking her first grand slam title having lost to Henin in last month's French Open final. Duly stung into action, the Belgian stormed through the next two sets in 43 minutes, only two minutes longer than the first set had taken. Clijsters was rampant, with her sledgehammer forehand wreaking havoc. She won nine successive games and wrapped up victory in venomous style with three successive aces. Venus's win in a see-saw match against Davenport, the 1999 champion, was her third win in a row over her compatriot at the All England Club. The older of the two Williams sisters beat Davenport in the 2000 Wimbledon final and the semi-finals a year later. She also beat Davenport in the 2000 US Open final in between. But their overall head-to-head record is a tight 12-10 to Venus and her victory was never easy on Centre Court. Davenport responded superbly to losing the first set and looked the likelier winner by the time she had taken the second. But the fifth seed ran out of steam in the decider. "I had to get in there and fight," Venus said. "Lindsay played very well."
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