Stars foretell — Venus to be in seventh heaven

Sydney, September 25: All-conquering American Venus Williams and 18-year-old Elena Dementieva of Russia won their Olympic tennis semifinals on Monday and will now face off in the final on Wednesday.

Williams moved to within one match of completing a golden season in grand style by beating fellow-American Monica Seles 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Her match-winning streak now stands at 31 during which she has taken five titles. Dementieva defeated unseeded Australian Jelena Dokic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first career final. Seles, the third seed, plays local favourite Dokic for the bronze on Tuesday. Dementieva, a US Open semifinalist this month, defeated Williams last year in a Fed Cup match in Stanford, California, winning the dead-rubber by 7-6 in the third set. Dementieva, who wielded an explosive forehand in the one hour, 46-minute struggle, took the critical third-set service break in the seventh game on a double fault by Dokic.

In the men’s tournament, fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov gave Russia another reason to cheer when he beat Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semifinals. Kafelnikov will play unseeded Frenchman Arnaud Di Pasquale, who routed eighth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-2, 6-1 in his quarter-final.

Also advancing was Tommy Haas of Germany, who outfoughtbig-serving Max Mirnyi of Belarus 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Haas will meet Swiss Roger Federer, a 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 winner against Karim Alami of Morocco.