Serena (left) and Venus Williams ... on course for final showdown. - File

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

THE WILLIAMS sisters moved closer to another Wimbledon final yesterday, using their power tennis to cruise into the semi-finals in straight sets.

Defending champion and four-time winner Venus Williams beat Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-3, and two-time champ Serena swept 19-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-0.

The Williams sisters are in opposite halves of the draw and could meet in Saturday's final. The two have been twice before in the Wimbledon final, with Serena winning both in 2002 and '03.

'Keep playing power tennis'

"That would be amazing if we both were in the final," seventh-seeded Venus said. "I have to take it one more step and keep playing power tennis."

Venus will next face No. 5 Elena Dementieva, who wasted a 5-1 lead and two match points in the second set before beating fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to reach her first Wimbledon semi-final.

Sixth-seeded Serena will play Zheng Jie, who became the first Chinese player to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam by beating Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. The 133rd-ranked Zheng is also the first wild-card entrant to reach the women's semis at Wimbledon and second at any Grand Slam.

"I think many people (will) watch this match in China," Zheng said.

The Williams sisters will be heavy favourites to set up their sixth Grand Slam final showdown. Serena leads 5-1 in Slam finals and 8-7 in overall matches.

"We want to deserve to be there," Venus said. "We have to play the best tennis to deserve it, so our aim is just to play better than our opponents and really deserve to be there."

Serena watched some of her sister's match while waiting to go on court.

"Watching the competition a little bit," she said, later bristling when asked whether she considered Venus to be the title favourite.

"I would never sit here and say she's the favourite when I'm still in the draw," she said. "That's not me. I always believe I'm the favourite. Even if I'm not the favourite, I'm always going to believe that I am."

It's been five years since Serena won the Wimbledon trophy, and her last Grand Slam title was at the 2007 Australian Open.

Expect the best

"I always expect to be here," she said. "I always expect the best. I feel like I deserve this because I don't think anyone's been working harder than me, except for maybe Venus. I mean that girl works even harder than I do. I just feel it's about time."

Neither of the sisters has dropped a set so far in the tournament, and their big serves and punishing ground strokes have put them a class above the rest of the field.

"I think I have a lot of power, so it helps," Venus said. "Definitely the power helps."