Venus Williams surges into Wimbledon semi-finals

LONDON: Venus Williams surged into the Wimbledon semi-finals on Thursday with a 6-3 6-4 victory over fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.   

The American used the momentum she had gathered in Wednesday's demolition of second seed Maria Sharapova to power herself to a 4-1 lead in the first set.   

With an array of aggressive smashes, fast serves and high-speed shots to every area of the court Williams took the first set.   

The 23rd seed broke in the third game of the second but then Kuznetsova fought back with her first break in the sixth.

The Russian's relief was short-lived when Williams immediately broke back. The three-time former champion wasted four match points on her serve before forcing the Russian to hit long at the end of a lengthy rally to set up a semi-final meeting with either Ana Ivanovic or Nicole Vaidisova.