Venus breezes into semi-finals

Defending champion Venus Williams closed in on a sixth Wimbledon title on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska whose quarter-final challenge melted in the searing heat.

Venus, bidding to become the first woman to win a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles since Steffi Graf's three-in-a-row from 1991 to 1993, next faces either top seed Dinara Safina or Germany's Sabine Lisicki for a place in the final. The 29-year-old American, seeded three, has now won 32 consecutive sets at the All England Club since Japan's Akiko Morigami took the second set of their third round match in 2007.

She breezed through the first set in 27 minutes, serving up two love games on her way to a 5-0 lead before the 11th seeded Radwanska got on the board.

LONDON, Tuesday, AFP