Williams overpowers feisty Dementieva

Dementieva buckled in the soaring heat

Click here for Tuesday's results from Miami

Number two seed Venus Williams moved into the semi-finals of the Nasdaq-100 Open Masters, before rain caused play to be postponed.

Williams claimed a titanic 5-7 6-3 6-2 win against Russia's Elena Dementieva, but torrential rain then forced the cancellation of the evening matches.

Play was suspended late in the afternoon session.

Officials waited for more than two hours but, when the rain persisted, they decided to reschedule the evening programme, which featured a quarter-final clash between third seed Martina Hingis and eighth-seeded Serena Williams.

Earlier, Serena's sister had played without the punch she showed in the previous round against Amanda Coetzer.

I raced to a 3-0 lead, but no points came easy after that

Venus Williams

But, as the oppressive temperatures eventually took their toll, it was the American who maintained her power and accuracy the best.

She initially raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set but her game was increasingly littered with mistakes as Dementieva lifted the tempo to take the set 7-5.

The Russian's fierce hitting eventually proved her downfall, as a series of unforced errors gifted Williams the next two sets.

"I raced to a 3-0 lead, but no points came easy after that," said Williams, who has now won 22 straight games at Key Biscayne.

Her opponent on Thursday will be the winner of Tuesday night's match between her sister Serena and two-time champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland.

---

Tuesday's women's results:

Venus Williams (2) (US) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS) 5-7 6-3 6-2

Back to top