Advertisement

Williams sisters to meet in semis

MIAMI, March 27 (UPI) -- Serena Williams, the eighth seed, routed rival Martina Hingis on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals of the $6.44 million NASDAQ 100 Open.

The match originally was scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed by rain. That did not slow down Williams, who defeated the third-seeded Hingis for the third straight time to take a 7-6 lead in the all-time series.

Advertisement

The victory set up a semifinal meeting between the Williams sisters. Serena and Venus will square off for the first time since Venus won last year's U.S. Open final.

Venus Williams has won this event in each of her last three appearances, including last year, and advanced to the semifinals by defeating Russia's Elena Demenetieva on Tuesday.

Venus Williams missed the 2000 tournament due to tendinitis in both wrists after claiming consecutive crowns.

Top seed Jennifer Capriati became the third American to reach the semifinals with Wednesday's easy 6-2, 6-0 win over Tatiana Panova of Russia. The Australian Open champion advances to play the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal match between Kim Clijsters of Belgium and Monica Seles of the United States.

Advertisement

On men's side, defending champion Andre Agassi defeated Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador in a quarterfinal match, 6-3, 7-5.

Seeking his fifth title at this event, the 31-year-old Agassi is playing in just his fourth tournament of the year due to a wrist injury.

Marcelo Rios of Chile, the 31st seed, met Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela in a quarterfinal match Wednesday night.

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt completed a 6-4, 6-1 fourth-round win over unseeded American James Blake that was suspended by rain on Tuesday. The break was likely a welcome one for Hewitt, who survived a tough three-set contest Monday night against American Jan-Michael Gambill.

Hewitt has reached the semifinals at Miami the past two years and won 14 straight matches since returning from a bout with the chicken pox earlier this year. He also has won 20 consecutive matches on American hard courts dating to the U.S. Open.

Two other matches were completed Wednesday. Romanian Andre Pavel, the 26th seed, topped Franco Squillari of Argentina, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. No. 6 Marat Safin of Russia defeated Chilean qualifier Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-3.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines