Serena makes semis

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 10:29 a.m.

NEW YORK -- The old Serena Williams might have lost her composure after blowing two match points in a second-set tie breaker.

The old Serena might have lost her focus after blowing a 40-0 lead.

Against fellow American Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium before a riveted crowd, the old Serena stayed at home Tuesday night.

Utterly relieved that she stopped Davenport from making a furious comeback, Williams let out screams of joy and satisfaction while pumping her fists in the air after she hit an off-balance forehand cross-court winner to advance to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-5 victory.

"I was pretty happy because obviously, I'm tired of losing close matches," Williams said. "I really, really wanted to win this match so I was a bit elated."

Next up for Williams is top-seeded Martina Hingis, the 1997 U.S. Open champion.

Hingis leads their series 6-4 and has beaten Williams the last three times they have played, most recently at the Australian Open. Williams' most notable win against Hingis was in the finals of the 1999 U.S. Open.

In the tiebreaker, Williams served for the match with a 5-4 lead, but hit a backhand wide. Her second opportunity came at 7-6 when Davenport hit a backhand passing shot into the net.

But on her second match point, Davenport responded with a perfect backhand down the line to even things up. An errant forehand from Williams followed by a backhand return that sailed wide forced a third set.

"You know, I just blew it," Williams said. "I told myself, you know what, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I wish, I couldn't even pay a person to rewind time, so I may as well get over it.

"That's what I was able to do. I was able to move on after that."

With Davenport serving 5-6, 30-15 in the third set to stay in the match, Williams uncharacteristically approached the net and hit a cross-court forehand volley winner she called the most important point of the night.

Based on her results at the net against Davenport, Williams may re-think her cling-to-the-baseline approach, as she won 24 of 27 net points.

"I'm really working on it," Williams said.

With the help of older sister Venus, who plays Belgium's Kim Clijsters this afternoon in another quarterfinal match, Serena has begun working on her mental game as well. This year alone, Williams has lost five three-setters in 11 matches played.

"Venus told me something really important the other day," Williams said. "She said, 'You know, a champion in tight situations is able to pull through, they don't get nervous.'

"That really helped me a lot. I don't have time to be nervous anymore."

Hingis eased through to the semifinals by beating 18-year-old Daja Bedanova, 6-2, 6-0.

On Hingis' first match point, Bedanova double faulted for the fourth time.

Bedanova looked nothing like the promising teenager who outwitted seventh-seeded Monica Seles in a dramatic three-set quarterfinal.

"I guess my whole game let me down a little bit today," an admittedly nervous Bedanova said. "I wasn't serving that well. My arm was a little bit slow. Well, I had not a good day. But Martina played really good, solid tennis. She didn't give me anything."

Hingis has gained more confidence when facing power hitters such as Seles, Jennfier Capriati, the Williams sisters and Davenport, but she certainly didn't mind playing Bedanova.

"I was actually surprised today," Hingis said with a broad smile. "It's like the balls are actually coming at me at a slower pace. I mean, they're long and deep. But I still welcome this game with open arms."

Although she is the top seed and the top-ranked women's player, Hingis, the 1997 U.S. Open champion, hasn't won a Grand Slam since the 1999 Australian Open.

Hingis has been ranked the year-end No. 1 singles player for the last three years by being consistent.

She stands to lose that ranking, however, if she loses in the semifinals and Capriati makes it to the final, win or lose.

"These days it's more important to win the tournament," Hingis said. "It's not only (about keeping the ranking). If I would win the tournament, I also save my position."

To do that, she must get by the new and improved Serena Williams.