Williams has too much power for Hantuchova

Venus Williams ignored the distractions of a hostile crowd and an errant earring to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian Open yesterday, while prospects looked bright for Andre Agassi to secure a fourth Australian title.

After the premature departure of the top-ranked Jennifer Capriati and Lleyton Hewitt, the No 2 seeds glided seamlessly into the final four in their respective draws, with straight sets wins over Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, and France's Sebastien Grosjean.

Hantuchova, who went down 6-4, 6-3, was caught off guard by Williams' fearsome serving. The American won 87 per cent of her points on first serve and launched six aces, including one at 125mph (201kph), the fastest by a woman since 2001. She herself set the record of 127mph (205kph) in Zurich in 1998, and said yesterday that she fancied breaking it.

"I don't know if I served well, but did everyone see the 201?" Williams asked. "I was surprised when I saw that speed. I got a bit distracted, so I said: 'Venus, focus back on the match!' Now I'm going to see if I can serve even bigger than the record."

Hantuchova, the No 7 seed, was not amused by the barrage of huge serves and said she needed to do more weights work to match the power players. That will come as a disappointment to fans of her willowy frame; the Slovakian has nearly as many admirers as Anna Kournikova.

In the fifth game of the first set, some spectators shouted that Williams' previous shot had been out when she won a point with a volley. On the next point, a roar of "out" came from the crowd when she hit a forehand. There was no call from the line judge, but she missed the next shot and lost the point.

But after losing the game to go 2-3 down on an out call that was loudly applauded, Williams came back with a burst of winners, holding her serve to love and then breaking for a 4-3 lead.

Her other trial came near the end of the encounter, when an earring flew off as she set up match point with a backhand cross-court winner on the run. But she retrieved the large gold hoop, composed herself and sealed victory when Hantuchova sent a backhand long.

Williams will play Justin Henin-Hardenne in the semi-finals. The Belgian No 5 seed had an easy 6-2, 6-2 win over Virginia Ruana Pascual yesterday.

Henin-Hardenne's victory came only 24 hours after being in what she described as "very bad shape" after suffering thigh cramps and blisters during her fourth-round victory over Lindsay Davenport. "On Monday I was in very bad shape," Henin-Hardenne said. "I couldn't train at all. I asked the doctor and the trainers but they didn't want me to hit because I was very down. I was a bit nervous this morning at practice because I was very tired, but I had a lot of massage and when you are in the quarters you want to give 100 per cent."

Agassi, meanwhile, will meet Wayne Ferreira after the unseeded South African beat the No 4 seed, Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-6, 7-6, 6-1, in a tongue-twisting quarter-final.

The meeting flummoxed match commentators, who found themselves shouting the last syllable of each man's name in order to distinguish between them. "That was a wild forehand by Ferrer-OH," John McEnroe observed. Fortunately for McEnroe and his fellow commentators, Spain's David Ferrer was knocked out in the first round.

Ferreir-AH won two tiebreaks, then broke serve in the third game of the third set for a 3-0 lead. The increasingly frustrated Spaniard double-faulted at 1-5 to give Ferreira his first match point. The South African needed just one more to win, with Ferrero not even bothering to run for the last ball.

The tournament is testimony to the staying power of older players. Agassi is months short of his 33rd birthday, while Ferreira is 31, as is Younes El Ayanoui, who knocked out Hewitt in the fourth round.

Agassi, who has dropped only one set in five rounds here, played a tactically flawless game against Grosjean. The No 2 seed landed 65 per cent of his first serves, and won nearly 80 per cent of those points. He made only 14 errors, compared with 40 notched up by the French No 12 seed.

The American is clearly relishing the opportunity presented by the exit of so many top seeds. The No 9, Andy Roddick, and the No 10, David Nalbandian, are the only other top 10 players left in the draw. Last year Agassi was forced to pull out on the eve of the tournament with a wrist injury, depriving himself of the chance to win three consecutive titles. This year he is playing brilliantly. "I lost against a great Agassi today," Grosjean said.