Davenport beats Venus at Bausch & Lomb
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-09 10:17

Lindsay Davenport extended her winning streak against Venus Williams to four straight matches with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in Friday's quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships.

The win sends Davenport into Saturday's semifinals, where she'll meet the winner of Friday night's match between Shinobu Asagoe and Nadia Petrova.

It was the second match of the day for Williams, who was forced to complete the third set of Thursday's rain-interrupted match against Marta Domachowska. Williams took about 25 minutes to complete the 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Lindsay Davenport, the number one seed, returns a shot to Venus Williams during their match at the Bausch and Lomb Championships, Friday, April 8, 2005, in Amelia Island, Fla. Davenport defeated Williams, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. [AP]

Williams had 2 1/2 hours between matches, and said the earlier contest didn't contribute to her loss to Davenport.

Her sister, Serena, won her Thursday match 7-6 (5), 6-4 over Mary Pierce. Serena Williams was to face Silvia Farina Elia later Friday for a spot in the semifinals against Virginie Razzano, who beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-4.

Venus Williams looked like she might have her own spot in the semifinals, needing just 26 minutes and winning the last five games to capture the first set against Davenport.

But Davenport started turning the match around midway through the second set. After holding her serve for a 4-3 lead, she broke Williams' serve at love when Williams committed three unforced errors and double faulted. Then she held serve to tie the match at one set apiece.

"I was still struggling in the second set, but I escaped some trouble when it was 3-all," Davenport said. "I seemed to gain a lot of confidence when that game was over. I was able to move forward and not look back so much."

Both players held serve the first seven games of the third set before Davenport broke Williams again, winning the game with an ace. She held her serve two games later to capture the set and match, ending Williams' hopes of matching her 2002 win at Amelia Island.

"I just didn't win some of the key points," Williams said. "In the end, I rushed too many shots. I had some easy shots, I just didn't make them. That's not like me."

It was the 26th meeting between the two players, with Davenport now holding a 14-12 advantage. It was the first time the two high-ranking players had ever met on clay.

"She had a lot of opportunities and had a lot of break points in that second set and didn't take advantage of them," Davenport said. "In the third set I felt a lot more comfortable. It just seemed like today I played the big points a lot better than she did and was able to pull out those games.

"You need to be aggressive and at the same time you need to be consistent. Sometimes those don't always go hand in hand."

Close

The Year of the Yao to debut in Houston Lyon 1-1 PSV Eindhoven Ding Junhui wins World Snooker China Open

Today's Top News     Top Sports News
US, China agree to hold regular senior-level talks         Lien Chan expected to visit mainland in May         Nation steels itself against further price hikes         Thousands rally against Japan in Beijing         Living in the lap of luxury stirs debate         Legislator turns out to be robbery suspect	Yao Ming acts in public service announcement about AIDS       Davenport beats Venus at Bausch & Lomb       Prince helps Pistons win fifth straight       Mexican athletes to guarantee Olympics commitment       Shearer gives Newcastle edge, Bowyer cheered       DiMarco in early command as Mickelson, Singh chase