Mauresmo and Williams Storm Through

Amelie Mauresmo dropped her first set of the fortnight, but recovered to record a comfortable 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 win over Argentina's Paola Suarez

After Suarez had broken serve to level the match at 1-1, and had a break point in the first game of the decider, it looked as though the fourth seed was in for a shock.

But after both players dropped serve, Mauresmo recovered to break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, and the sixth for 5-1. When she served for the match, Suarez saved one match point but on the second she could only produce a weak service return, which Mauresmo put away with aplomb.

Defending champion Serena Williams swept into the semi-finals with a blistering victory over Jennifer Capriati in just 42 minutes on Centre Court and is now is on course to become the first woman to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles since Steffi Graf between 1991 and 1993.

"I've been thinking about that since the beginning of the tournament," said Williams. "It's an awesome moment in my career. I'm really excited."

It was a superb performance from the champion, who broke the No7 seed early in the opening set and never looked back as she raced to a 6-1, 6-1 triumph.

Capriati, twice a Wimbledon semi-finalist, beat Williams at the French Open exactly one month ago, but looked out of sorts and failed to find the form which had taken her to the quarter-finals without dropping a set.

Capriati, whose superior ranking did no justice to the massive gulf between the two former world No1s, was disappointed by the margin of defeat. "Today was probably one of the best she's ever played against me," she said.

"Beating her the last two times maybe she had a vendetta. I don't think I really had much of a chance to get in the match and play."