Tennis

Venus ends Serena's run

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Big sis won for a change in the latest Williams family showdown, and little sis took it poorly.

Venus Williams ended a streak of six consecutive losses to Serena by winning 6-1, 7-6 (8) Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.

Meeting for the first time since July 2003, the sisters produced the same tense, sloppy tennis that has marred the rivalry in the past. But there was plenty of effort and emotion.

When Serena lost the first five games, she took an angry swipe at the hardcourt and mangled her racket, prompting jeers from the crowd in a stadium only two-thirds full.

Then, when Venus smacked a crosscourt winner for a 3-2 lead in the second set, she walked to her chair with a glare, her teeth gritted in determination, while Serena admonished herself and screamed a profanity.

In the tiebreaker, Serena pushed a forehand into the net to fall behind 9-8, then flung her racket and buried her face in her hands. She sailed a backhand long on match point, and Venus raised her arms in jubilation.

The sisters met at the net and hugged, and Venus consoled her younger sister with a pat on the back. Venus grinned and waved to the crowd, then gestured to Serena and applauded by patting her racket.

The defeat ended a 21-match winning streak at Key Biscayne for No. 3-seeded Serena, the three-time defending champion. Venus has also won the tournament three times.

"There was nothing I could do in the first set, but I had plenty of chances in the second," Serena said. "We should still be out there."

In the semifinals Thursday, No. 8-seeded Venus will play No. 2-seeded Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova interrupted Justine Henin-Hardenne's comeback from a seven-month layoff by winning 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-2. Reaching the men's quarterfinals were top-ranked Roger Federer and six-time Key Biscayne champion Andre Agassi.

Williams met Williams for the first time since the 2003 Wimbledon final, and the latest chapter in the series produced the same awkward shotmaking as in the past. Venus hit one serve that landed short of the net.

"It has always been difficult for me to watch," Agassi said before the match. "I just couldn't imagine what it's like competing against a sibling."

But the result might revive the rivalry, and it's a psychological breakthrough for Venus, whose career went into a tailspin after her last win over Serena for the 2001 U.S. Open title. Since that match, Serena has since won six major titles, beating Venus in the final five times.

Federer was pushed to three sets for the second match in a row but beat Mario Ancic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Federer, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, extended his winning streak to 19 matches and improved to 45-1 since the start of last year's U.S. Open.

Agassi endured a grueling first set and beat French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 7-6 (7), 6-2. Gaudio faded after converting just one of 10 breakpoint chances in the opening set, which lasted 85 minutes.

Two Spaniards made the men's final eight. Rafael Nadal, an 18-year-old left-hander with two titles already this year, beat No. 13-seeded Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3. Unseeded David Ferrer rallied past countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5.

No. 6 Tim Henman also won and will next play Federer. No. 26 Dominik Hrbaty, who upset Marat Safin in the third round, eliminated 18-year-old Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3.

[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:04:14]