Venus continues charge as divide grows ever wider

Day seven in the Big Sister house, the annual summer contest where a group of eager participants are gradually whittled down to one winner under the constant glare of the cameras. It's 2.30pm and Venus Williams, the biggest sister in the women's game, is called to the interview room. The hot favourite for the big cheque has just been responsible for the eviction of Lisa Raymond, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, and has been called in to explain what happened.

"I was just trying to improve as the tournament goes on," the 22-year-old said. "I saw on Saturday [in the third round, against Maureen Drake] that I wasn't moving as fast as I could, so I just tried to keep my feet moving."

Move they did. The reigning champion took the first set in 18 minutes as Raymond, a doubles specialist, failed to come up with a response worth the name to Williams' powerful serve.

The next set was much the same, with Williams breaking Raymond in the third game with a strong backhand pass down the line and again in the seventh after an unforced error from the lower-ranked player. In this game there has always been a rich-side, poor-side divide in terms of domination but Venus is threatening a permanent annexation.

The next obstacle in her path to a third straight title is Russia's Elena Likhovtseva, the world No 48, who yesterday beat Magdalena Maleeva, 6-3, 6-4. There is also the small matter for Venus, the No 1 seed, of a possible meeting in the final with big sister's little sister Serena, the No 2, who powered past Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-3. Serena first faces a quarter-final against the 19-year-old Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, who won the vote, 6-4, 7-5, over the No 7 seed, Jelena Dokic.

The other remaining housemates are an intriguing mixture of personalities. Jennifer Capriati is still there, until this morning at least, when she resumes her rain-affected match against Eleni Daniilidou, which stood at one set apiece at the close last night.

Monica Seles, the No 4 seed, who is inching ever closer to opting out of the game, is still in for the moment after beating Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-2, 6-2. The nine-times Grand Slam winner, who reached the Wimbledon final in 1992 but has never tasted success here, now faces Justine Henin, who overcame the 20-year-old Russian, Elena Dementieva, 7-6, 7-6. To reach a second consecutive final Henin is likely to have to overcome the champion big sister, Venus, in the semi-final.

Venus said yesterday that she is most pleased by the reduction in forced errors. "Just trying to play some controlled tennis, get a nice result, get into the quarter-finals," she said summarising her approach yesterday.

The victory over Raymond saw her unbeaten record in SW19 stretch to 18 matches, with the last defeat coming in the 1999 quarter-finals. With her form improving by the match and the experience of two titles here behind her, she said her confidence in a hat-trick is increasing. "It's definitely nice knowing that I've won the tournament before, that I have that experience," she said. "I am the only player [remaining] in the draw who has won here."

Another player who would dearly love to win is Serena. Her opponent yesterday, Rubin, went into the match in the best form of her season, having won at Eastbourne and progressed further here than on nine previous occasions. But even watching the pair walk on to the court ­ Williams a strapping colossus to Rubin's pint-sized challenger ­ suggested the giant would have to have a terrible day to lose. She did not, serving five aces to nil, winning 89 per cent of her first-serve points to her opponent's 50 per cent and even winning 100 per cent of her points at the net to Rubin's 58 per cent. The match, interrupted by rain, took 68 minutes but was not as close as that time suggests.

"There's always room for improvement," Serena said when asked if she was happy with her performance. In truth, she did little wrong against a gutsy opponent and was most in danger of going out at the hands of the Centre Court tarpaulin. Occasionally the folk who run the Big Sister show set a task, known as "Run for Cover". The object is to get to the dressing-room without getting wet when the rain starts, but avoiding being tripped on the way. "I almost got run over," Serena said. "But I survived. I'm a survivor. I made it to another day." It is not known whether she lists blinking as one of her hobbies.

Venus said yesterday that playing doubles with her sister had improved her game on grass. "It has definitely helped my volleys and today it gave me the confidence to come into the net so much," she said.

She and Serena both took time in the interview room to muse about great grass-court players. Serena named Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as possible contenders for the all-time best. Venus said, somewhat surprisingly, that Graf, seven times a champion at the All England Club, had not been a good grass-court player.

"She never really came in and never served and volleyed," Venus said. Such small talk is common in the lengthy periods between evictions.