Venus on track for double gold

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Sydney: American star Venus Williams remained on target for two gold medals at the Sydney Olympic Games on Monday when she and her sister Serena breezed into the women's doubles final.

The Williams sisters beat fifth-seeded Belgian combination Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost 6-4, 6-1 in their semi-final after it had been delayed for three hours by rain.

Venus, the US Open champion and Wimbledon, had already qualified for Tuesday's women's singles final, in which she will face Russia's unseeded Elena Dementieva.

The doubles win took the sisters just 65 minutes and they had too much power for their rivals despite an unorthodox approach fromthe Belgians -- who repeatedly drilled the ball straight at the Americans.

The sisters will now face Dutch pair Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans in Thursday's doubles final after Boogert and Oremans beat the Belarus combination of Natasha Zvereva and Olga Barabanschikova 6-3, 6-2 in their semis.

With Venus having such a busy schedule, she was not impressed by the rain delay before the Wimbledon champions could play their semis.

"We would have hoped to have gotten out of here a little earlier, but it wasn't meant to be,'' she said.

Such is her focus on winning that Venus appears to have missed out on the Olympic spirit.

While Serena has found time to watch other sports, Venus said she has been too busy -- and plans to return home as soon as she has completed their commitments here.

''I'm not going to any other sports -- I haven't had time,'' she said.

Serena, meanwhile, says she needs to lift her form ahead of the doubles decider.

''I could serve a little better, volley especially return a little better -- the whole nine yards,'' she said.

Venus Williams is attempting to emulate compatriot Helen Wills, who in 1924 won both the women's singles and women's doubles titles at the Paris Olympics.



(c) Reuters Limited.