Williams Beats Seles, Goes to Gold Medal Match

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 25 -- Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles are nice, but Venus Williams says her next match may be the biggest yet.

The hottest player in tennis advanced to the Olympic final andextended her winning streak to 31 matches by beating Monica Seles6-1, 4-6, 6-3 today (Sunday night ET).

Williams said her appreciation of the Olympics has grown sinceshe arrived in Sydney.

“It’s probably bigger than a Grand Slam,” she said. “This ispossibly a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Everyone is coming out andplaying their best. It seems the ultimate thing is to have agold.”

Next Up: Dementieva

The second-seeded Williams’ opponent in the final Wednesday willbe No. 10 Elena Dementieva of Russia, who beat unseeded AustralianJelena Dokic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. The third-seeded Seles will play Dokicfor the bronze.

Dementieva, 18, was a semifinalist at this year’s U.S. Open. Shewon her only previously match against Williams last year in FedCup.

“That was last year. This is different,” Dementieva said.“She’s playing very well now. I don’t know if I can beat her, butI’m happy to be in the final.”

Williams also remained in contention for the gold in doubleswith her sister Serena.

Two unseeded players, Arnaud Di Pasquale of France and TommyHaas of Germany, reached the men’s semifinals. Di Pasquale beat No.8 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-2, 6-1. Haas rallied past MaxMirnyi of Belarus 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Rushing the Net

Williams and Seles played the first match of the day before asubdued center court crowd. The gray, damp, chilly weather wasreminiscent of Wimbledon, and so was Williams’ performance.

She came to the net more than in previous matches at Sydney, andher power forced Seles to rush shots and often hit off balance.

“That was a tough match,” Seles said. “Venus played reallywell, and at the end it got really close, but she played the keypoints better.”