Venus Williams continues dominance of Davenport

WIMBLEDON, England - Venus Williams captured the final five gamesand the last 11 points to beat Lindsay Davenport for the sixthstraight time this morning, winning her Wimbledon quarterfinal 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

Williams, a two-time champion, dropped a set for the first time inthe tournament but still improved to 25-1 at Wimbledon since 2000.Her opponent in the semifinals Thursday will be No. 2-seeded KimClijsters, who rallied past No. 27 Silvia Farina Elia 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

"If you get this far, you have to be doing something right," theNo. 4-seeded Williams said. "I'll just have to keep on with the samethings."

Davenport's serving kept her in the match, but Williams summonedher best tennis down the stretch. Her grunts became louder and hergroundstrokes more accurate, and she clenched her teeth after hittingone winner.

Williams displayed her remarkable range of shots - nine aces,lunging volleys, groundstrokes into the corners and even a returnwinner off a 100 mph serve. Davenport, who has been hampered inrecent weeks by a left toe injury that may require surgery, struggledto chase down Williams' shots in the forehand corner.

With Williams leading 2-0 in the first set, play was suspended for1 hour, 22 minutes because of rain. The No. 5-seeded Davenport wonthe first two games when the match resumed, before Williams regainedcontrol and won four games in a row to take the set.

Three times in the set Williams held at love.

She was broken in the opening game of the second set, however, andDavenport staged a rally thanks to excellent serving.

With three consecutive service winners in the final game of theset, she evened the match.

"Lindsay played so well, and I just had to stay on my toes thewhole match," Williams said. "I just kept searching for the answers."

But the 1999 champion couldn't recover after she lost her serve tofall behind 3-1 in the final set. She hasn't beaten Williams since2000 and trails the rivalry 12-10.

Clijsters dropped a set for the first time in the tournamentagainst Farina Elia, then won nine consecutive games to take control.She closed the win with three aces in the final game.

"I just had to find my footwork," said Clijsters, the French Openrunner-up. "I felt like I wasn't moving as well as I have been. OnceI found it I started playing very well."

Andre Agassi won the first of his eight Grand Slam titles atWimbledon, but that was 11 long years ago. Playing from the baselineon grass, he's vulnerable against a big server such as MarkPhilippoussis.

That was the case Monday, when the unseeded Australian with thethunderclap strokes upset Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 in thefourth round.

"You always feel against a player like him that once you lose yourserve, the set's close to being over with," Agassi said.

The upset ended Agassi's bid at 33 to become the oldest men'schampion at Wimbledon in the Open era. He said he'll return foranother try in 2004.

"I'm still a tennis player. This is the place to be," the top-ranked Agassi said. "I have always said I won't know when it's overwith until it's there. My plan is to be back here next year."

Philippoussis will be back Wednesday for a quarterfinal againstAlexander Popp, a German ranked 198th. No. 5-seeded Andy Roddick,playing in his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, will meet unseeded JonasBjorkman.

No. 4 Roger Federer, whose chances may be hurt by a back injury,will play No. 8 Sjeng Schalken. And No. 10 Tim Henman, bidding tobecome the first Englishman to win Wimbledon since 1936, will playthe winner of the match that was to be completed Tuesday betweenFrench Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero and No. 13 SebastienGrosjean.

Roddick advanced by beating No. 12 Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Agassi's departure left Roddick as the lone American in themen's draw.

"Little weird, huh?" Roddick said.

Agassi's exit also means there are no past winners in thequarterfinals. The last time that happened was in 1973, when a playerboycott diluted the field.

It's the first time in the Open era that the two top-seeded menboth failed to make the last eight. Defending champion Lleyton Hewittlost in the opening round.

Even with perhaps the best service return in the history of thegame, Agassi couldn't handle Philippoussis' power. The Australian'sserves consistently exceeded 125 mph, and his ace total tied GoranIvanisevic's 1997 record set in a second-round loss to Magnus Norman.

"I felt like I made him earn it," Agassi said. "There were a lotof moments where either one of us could have taken the match, and heended up doing it at the end."

AP-ES-07-01-03 1127EDT