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After Venus, Serena in semi-finals
London, July 04: French Open champion Serena Williams took a huge step towards a second Grand Slam title this season and the third of her career when she defeated Slovakia`s Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-2 in the Wimbledon quarter-finals here on Wednesday.
On a day where afternoon rain meant that the match started four hours later than scheduled and played in three sessions because of the showers, it was the 20-year-old American who proved to have too many weapons for the up-and-coming Hantuchova taking the first set 6-3 after 36 minutes.
She gained the only break in the eighth game and then fought off two breakpoints on her next service game to win the opener during which she sent down seven aces.
It was the first meeting between the two women, but that made no difference to Williams who has now featured in the semi-finals of the last three Grand Slams she has entered.
She grabbed an early break in the second set and was leading 3-1, 30-0 after 55 minutes when the rain came down to give Hantuchova some respite.
When the pair reappeared almost an hour later, it was business as usual as Williams grabbed another break to lead 4-1 before wrapping up the encounter after 68 minutes on her second match point when the Slovakian girl netted a backhand.
"I have been working really hard on my serve and I have served well in the last two rounds," said Serena who pulled out notes from her bag and read them during the changeovers.
"They are just reminders about things that I should be doing. I saw Venus do it before, so I decided to copy it."
Hantuchova said the constant interruptions affected her approach to the match.
"Going on and off because of the weather made it very hard to concentrate but you can`t do anything about it," said Hantuchova who won just 15 points on the Williams serve.
"Her serve was just unbelievable and that was the difference, it was the hardest serve I have ever faced. "But I can take a lot of positives from Wimbledon. I showed at the Australian Open when I took a set off Venus that I can live with these top players, but I still have a lot to learn.
"They have a lot more power and much more experience. That showed when I had break points. I had one at the start of the second set, but I hurried the shot." It was a disappointing result for the leggy 11th seed Hantuchova who had knocked out seventh seeded Yugoslav Jelena Dokic in the previous round and had been expected to cause more than a few problems for Williams.
That was based on her having clinched her first career title at Indian Wells beating former world number one Martina Hingis in the final before recording a fourth round spot at the French Open.
On grass, she came into Wimbledon having reached the semi-final at Eastbourne.
Bureau Report