Williams sets up Dementieva clash

Williams stretches on her way to an all-American win

Venus Williams reached the final of the women's Olympic tennis tournament with a battling victory over Monica Seles on Monday.

The Wimbledon and US Open champion stretched her remarkable winning run to 31 matches with a 6-1 4-6 6-3 success over her fellow American in the semi-finals.

Williams is now guaranteed of at least a silver medal to add to the string of trophies she has collected during her phenomenal summer.

And she insisted the Olympic title was as at least as important to her as the two recent Grand Slam crowns she has claimed: "This is kind of a once in a lifetime thing," Williams said.

Seles could not complete the comeback she began in the second set

"You don't have that much time in your life to win a medal. It's probably bigger than a Grand Slam."

The second-seed's opponent in the final will be No.10 seed Elena Dementieva.

In the second semi-final the Russian turfed out unseeded home favorite Jelena Dokic, who will face third seed Seles for the bronze.

Dementieva lost the first set to her Australian opponent but came back to win Dokic 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Dementieva, who reached the US Open semi-final earlier this month, defeated Williams last year in a Fed Cup match winning by 7-6 in the third set.

"I don't know if I can beat her," Dementieva said about Williams. "But I'm very happy to be in the final. This is the most important tournament for me."

The Russian, whose forehand was fearsome, made the critical service break in the seventh game on a double fault by Dokic.

Williams, who is also in contention for the gold in doubles with her sister Serena, had reached Sunday's singles semi-final Sunday when she completed a superb comeback to beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario - the last player to beat her, in the French Open.

Wimbledon weather

Williams and Seles played the first match of a busy day of tennis action before a subdued centre court crowd.

The damp and chilly weather was more in keeping with Wimbledon than Sydney - and the reigning queen of the All England Club produced a display reminiscent of her form in SW14.

She came to the net more than in previous matches in the Olympic competition - and her awesome power forced Seles to rush her shots and often hit off balance.

Williams stormed through the first set in just 18 minutes - but despite leading 4-2 in the second she began to struggle with her serve and Seles took advantage to level the match at one-set-all.

But Williams regained her poise in the final set, slamming down three consecutive aces for a 3-1 lead, before wrapping up victory with a backhand winner down the line on her first match point.

Doubles joy for Williams too

Venus Williams then returned with her sister Serena to knock out the top seeds Julie Halard-Decugis and Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-3 6-2 in the women's doubles.

The win took them into the semi-final where they were joined by Olga Barabanschikova and Natasha Zvereva of Belarus who beat Petra Mandula and Katalin Marosi-Aracama of Hungary 6-3 7-5.

The fifth seeds Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost of Belgium also went through by beating Milagros Sequera and Maria Alejandra Vento of Venezuela 4-6 7-5 6-4.

Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands claimed a place in the quarter-finals by beating Australia's Jelena Dokic and Rennae Stubbs 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.