Venus to play Dementieva in final

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Sydney: Venus Williams of the United States and Russian Elena Dementieva won their semi-finals on Monday to advance to Wednesday's final in the Olympic tennis tournament.

Second-seeded Williams beat fellow-American Monica Seles, the third seed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to extend her streak to 31 consecutive match victories that includes singles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open.

The 10th-seeded Dementieva, a semi-finalist at the US Open, defeated unseeded Australian Jelena Dokic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Seles and Dokic will play for the bronze medal on Tuesday.

''This is kind of a once in a lifetime thing,'' Williams said of her pursuit of the gold. ''You don't have that much time in your life to win a medal. it'sprobably bigger than a Grand Slam.''

On the men's side, France's unseeded Arnaud di Pasquale routed eighth-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.

The 20-year-old Williams dominated Seles in the opening set, taking only 18 minutes to win it and dropping just eight points against her serve.

''To serve like she did in the first set, at 170 kph (106 mph), she was too good,'' said Seles, who has lost all five matches she has played against Williams, including two earlier this year. ''It's discouraging.''

Seles, the 26-year-old owner of nine Grand Slam singles titles, looked slow and outclassed against the Williams power, but she hung on gamely.

''Usually, when it comes down to it, I'm able to close it out when it really counts,'' said Williams. ''That shows some courage.''



(c) Reuters Limited.