Venus strides into semi-finals

LONDON
Venus Williams towered over Tamarine Tanasugarn on women's quarter-final day at Wimbledon on Tuesday but was made to sweat for her 6-4 6-3 victory.
The seventh seeded American, aiming for a fifth Wimbledon title, was engaged for longer than many expected by a player contesting her first grand slam quarter-final and left Court One wearing a worried frown after tweaking a hamstring.
Venus's record against Bangkok-based Tamarine now stands at 14 sets to zero from their seven matches but fears of a miss-match proved unfounded as her diminutive Thai opponent scurried around the dusty baseline to great effect.
In fact, had the 31-year-old Tamarine converted more than one of her 10 break points against an unusually cautious Williams, this unpredictable Wimbledon could have witnessed another shock.
"I expect when times are tough to get going, those break points you just have to play better and I'm really blessed to have a serve that gets me out of those issues," Venus told reporters.
Williams is moving headlong towards a third final here against sister Serena, who was in action later against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, although first she will have to get past seasoned campaigner Elena Dementieva in the semis.