Williams and Henin into semis (3/1/2002)

GOLD COAST - Top seed Venus Williams and No.2 Justine Henin entered the semifinals of the Thalgo Australian Women's Hardcourts today in convincing fashion. Williams defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan 62 64 and defending champion Henin cast off German qualifier Anca Barna 62 61.

The Belgian raised the bar to demolish Barna in 46 minutes. While she was unhappy with her first serve, the world No.7 dominated with her second serve and looked far more assured than during her opening three-set second round against Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

"I was aggressive but I was patient also and I really had good organisation in my game. I went to the net, when I had to play a little bit higher I did it," she said.

"Today, I really felt I am in the tournament and now I'm I the semis so I was a little bit frustrated on my first serve because I don't feel the same pressure that I have on the second."

The No.2 seed is heading for a final showdown with No.1 seed Venus Williams if she can beat her semifinal opponent Daja Bedanova, who earlier advanced when Tina Pisnik retired during their quarterfinal with the score 61 30 to Bedanova.

"I played her last year in indoor courts in Bratislava. I lost in three sets," Henin said. "Different surface, different conditions, different players now," the world No.7 said. "For sure I know what are the big points of her game but I will just try to play my game that's really aggressive, to go to the net and to organise my game like I did today. I am not really afraid but I need to keep my attention up this much and don't think about any final now because tomorrow is going to be a tough match for me."

from tennisautralia.com.au