Serena wins battle of Williams sisters

SISTERLY ACT:Serena Williams (R) greets her sister Venus after defeating her in their US Open quarter-final match.

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New York: Serena Williams fought off 10 set points to prevail in the greatest duel yet with sister Venus, a heart-stopping 7-6, 7-6 victory that put her in the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

Played with uncommon ferocity and passion from both combatants, Serena emerged triumphant in the gruelling two hour 25 minute battle to reach the final four at Flushing Meadows for the first time since her 2002 win.

The eight-times Grand Slam winner turned away two set points in the first 8-6 tiebreaker and eight more in the second set, including four in the final 9-7 tiebreak, which ended with a Venus forehand drive landing beyond the baseline.

"I can't believe I won," Serena said courtside.

"Wow." With the victory Serena edged to a 9-8 advantage in her head-to-head sibling rivalry with Venus.

"I think we played a great match today," Serena said.

"It just boiled down to one point here and there."

Serena put on an amazing display of athleticism, racing from corner to corner to retrieve rocket forehands from Venus, stretching, straining and even sliding into a full split along the baseline trying to run down a blast.

The win sent Serena to the semi-finals against sixth seed Dinara Safina, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

Friday's other women's semi-final will have second seed Jelena Jankovic against Olympic champion Elena Dementieva. One of the semi-finalists will supplant Ana Ivanovic as world number one at the end of the tournament.

New status

Top seed Rafael Nadal, looking for his first US Open title to underline his new status as world No.1, booked a date with Briton Andy Murray in the men's semi-finals.

The Spaniard closed Wednesday's marathon night session with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded American Mardy Fish.

Delayed by a series of long matches, Nadal clinched his first trip to a US semi-final at 2:10 AM. with a boisterous throng of fans still on hand in the city that never sleeps.

"Thanks everyone for being here 'til 2 o'clock," Nadal told the crowd in a courtside interview.

"The night atmosphere here is always amazing. But I prefer to finish a little earlier."

Murray gave a roar of relief after ending the 23-match winning streak of Argentine teenager Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.

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