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Williams sisters face old foes
Wimbledon, July 01: The ladies quarter-finals at Wimbledon have thrown up two intriguing all American clashes to savour.
Wimbledon, July 01: The ladies quarter-finals at Wimbledon have thrown up two intriguing all American clashes to savour.
The Belgian pair of Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters may present the biggest threat to total Williams domination currently, but Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport have been their biggest challengers over the last five years.
Capriati faces Serena while Davenport takes on Venus in what are sure to be two hard-hitting match-ups. But the Williams sisters have the edge and both are on winning streaks against their respective opponents.
Venus has won five straight against Davenport, and has twice beaten her at Wimbledon, including the 2000 final.
While Serena has beaten Capriati seven times in a row, although Capriati produced an amazing comeback to win their only meeting at Wimbledon in 2001.
Capriati came from a set and two breaks down, although Serena put her capitulation down to a viral infection that had stopped her from eating for four days.
The other two quarter-finals look like being reasonably straight-forward affairs for the Belgians.
Henin-Hardenne faces the last remaining Russian in the shape of Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Russian challenge has been one of the features of this year's ladies' singles, but they came off very much second best to the United States in Monday's fourth round.
So 18 year old Kuznetsova is left to carry the flag in her first Wimbledon after seeing off Maria Sharapova in the last round.
The final place in the semi-finals will go to Clijsters or Sylvia Farina-Elia.
Clijsters has lost just 12 games in four matches, and will be an overwhelming favourite, but her Italian opponent surprised seventh seed Chanda Rubin in the third round and is clearly enjoying herself.
Apart from the ladies' quarter-finals, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Sebastien Grosjean will finish their match held over from Monday to complete the men's quarter-finals picture.
The winner can look forward to having every mistake they make cheered when they face Tim Henman in the last eight.
Bureau Report
Capriati faces Serena while Davenport takes on Venus in what are sure to be two hard-hitting match-ups. But the Williams sisters have the edge and both are on winning streaks against their respective opponents.
Venus has won five straight against Davenport, and has twice beaten her at Wimbledon, including the 2000 final.
While Serena has beaten Capriati seven times in a row, although Capriati produced an amazing comeback to win their only meeting at Wimbledon in 2001.
Capriati came from a set and two breaks down, although Serena put her capitulation down to a viral infection that had stopped her from eating for four days.
The other two quarter-finals look like being reasonably straight-forward affairs for the Belgians.
Henin-Hardenne faces the last remaining Russian in the shape of Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Russian challenge has been one of the features of this year's ladies' singles, but they came off very much second best to the United States in Monday's fourth round.
So 18 year old Kuznetsova is left to carry the flag in her first Wimbledon after seeing off Maria Sharapova in the last round.
The final place in the semi-finals will go to Clijsters or Sylvia Farina-Elia.
Clijsters has lost just 12 games in four matches, and will be an overwhelming favourite, but her Italian opponent surprised seventh seed Chanda Rubin in the third round and is clearly enjoying herself.
Apart from the ladies' quarter-finals, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Sebastien Grosjean will finish their match held over from Monday to complete the men's quarter-finals picture.
The winner can look forward to having every mistake they make cheered when they face Tim Henman in the last eight.
Bureau Report