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| Friday, February 8 Seles, Venus advance to Paris semifinals Reuters |
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PARIS -- Monica Seles has continued her run of good form by beating second seed Justine Henin 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Paris Open indoor tournament. Fifth seed Seles will meet Jelena Dokic in the semifinals after the Yugoslav defeated Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Italian Silvia Farina-Elia 6-2, 6-1. Williams faces defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2. World No. 7 Henin said it was her lack of experience which had given Seles, ranked 10th, the edge. "It was experience rather than quality of tennis that made the difference," the 19-year-old Belgian said. "I've been in the top ten for less than a year while Seles has years and years of experience and a great record. She's accustomed to playing matches at this level." The 28-year-old American sent the pint-sized Henin racing around the court with a series of shots from the baseline that seemed to land millimetres from the line every time. Henin responded with several winning serve-volley combinations and also produced some fine baseline shots. She broke to lead 4-3, but an aggressive Seles then won three straight games to bag the first set. In the second set the players earned huge cheers from the near sell-out crowd with a series of stunning rallies. Both held serve up to 4-3 before Seles broke and held to win the match. Seles beat Venus Williams at the Australian Open on the way to the semifinals, where she was knocked out by Martina Hingis. She lost to Hingis again in the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo last week. Henin reached the Australian Open quarterfinals, where she was defeated by her compatriot Kim Clijsters, the world No. 5. The fourth-seeded Dokic came from behind to beat Russian Dementieva and said she hoped to break into the top five in the world this year. "I'm looking towards the top five," the 18-year-old said. "But it's going to be tough to stay where I am. You see a lot of players get there and then go back so my first aim is to stay there. "I'm just hoping to play as well as I can. If I play well it's tough to beat me." In the first set, eighth seed Dementieva began aggressively and Dokic had to save three break-points in the first game. Dementieva, ranked 15th in the world, kept up the pressure and broke to lead 5-3, but Dokic broke back to level 5-5. The Russian kept her nerve and took the set after a series of winning returns and shots from the baseline. Dokic reacted by turning the power up several notches and although her opponent continued to play well, making few unforced errors, Dokic dropped just one game in the second set. Dementieva revived briefly to lead 2-0 in the third set, but Dokic immediately fought back with unstoppable volleys and passing shots, winning six straight games to seal the match. "I kept on getting better and better and I played the big points well," Dokic said. Dementieva said there was nothing she could do to counter Dokic in the second and third sets. "She always plays very well but today she was serving unbelievable, so she didn't give me any chances on her serve," the Russian added. |
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