Williams races into last four

Reigning champion Venus Williams was in ominous form as she thrashed Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-0 in just 47 minutes to move into the semi-finals of the women's singles.

Williams overcame stiff early resistance from Likhovtseva, the only unseeded player in the last eight, before taking the first set 6-2 in 27 minutes. The second set was even easier as Williams breezed through without the loss of a single game.

Likhovtseva, the world No48, failed to take a set off Williams in any of their seven previous meetings going back five years but she briefly threatened to end her dismal run as she restricted the No1 seed to a solitary point in her first two service games.

But from then on Likhovtseva's serve let her down badly. She didn't hold again for the rest of the match, and with Williams regularly booming down 100mph-plus serves the match was soon won after just 47 minutes of one-sided action.

Afterwards Williams, who has dropped only one set in her four matches, was delighted with her form today but insists she is still working to improve areas of her game.

"I'm trying to keep my unforced error count down and trying to play more solid every round," she said. "When it happens like it did today, it's very nice.

"I'd like to improve a lot more. I hit a lot of balls up the middle so I'll be studying myself I suppose."

Williams once more sported a large bandage on her left knee following a touch of tendonitis but she insisted the injury was not a problem.

"It's in case something does happen," she said. "It's mainly because, if I did go out and injure it further, it's hard to tape in three minutes. I'm feeling very good."

She will now face either Monica Seles or last year's runner up Justine Henin in the last four.