Forgotten ladies storm back

LINDSAY DAVENPORT and Venus Williams, two Americans on the comeback trail for a title they were popularly assumed to have left behind, will mix it in this year’s Wimbledon semi-finals.

Also in action tomorrow are defending champion Maria Sharapova and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo - who should have cracked it long ago.

Davenport, 29, the champion from 1999 who considered retirement last year, is close to completing a remarkable renaissance.

The number one seed outblasted US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova to set up a last-four clash with Mauresmo. And her 7-6 6-2 victory had hardly ignited the cheers on court one when they were joined by those for Williams’s 6-0 7-6 defeat of Mary Pierce on centre court.

Now twice-champion Williams, the 14th seed after a slump yielded just one title in two years - takes on glamour girl Sharapova, the 7-6 6-3 conqueror of fellow Russian Nadia Petrova.

Davenport, who detested the south London grass initially but now has developed a game that looks ideal for it, said: “After playing such a long career I was looking forward to doing some different things, kind of starting a different life but all of a sudden I started playing a lot better again.

“I started for the first time in a couple of years believing in exactly what I was capable of doing and I fell really excited now to be still where I am,” she said.

The classic serve and volley of Mauresmo, Australian beaten finalist the same year Davenport took the crown at Wimbledon, was too much for another Russian Anastasia Myskina.

“I really decided to put the pressure on her right from the first game,” said Mauresmo, “I was much more comfortable on the court and really enjoying the game.

“The way the courts are you really have to mix it up and I’m very satisfied I was able to choose the right shots to go in for.”

Venus Williams has hit her stride since sister Serena limped out against the unheralded Jill Craybas on Saturday night - although she firmly denies it is either family revenge or her own low ranking which has motivated her.

Whatever the case, Mary Pierce, at 30, could not find the answer to her muscle and dynamism.

The French-Canadian, seeking to match her final appearance in France earlier this month, made a fight of it after losing the first set 6-0 - but a marathon 10-8 tiebreak finally took her out.

Sharapova, 18, was given a battle at last. After not dropping a set in four rounds of matches she finally did so against big-hitting French Open semi-finalist Nadia Petrova, and had to come back from a glut of break points as well.

But having seen off a tough first set in which her luck held with a string of net-cords in the tie-break, the champion took command for a 7-6 6-3 win.

She said: “When I went into the final I saw Serena across there but I still played well. Now it is Venus and it is going to be another big battle.

“But I think the main thing is just to be mentally tough. You have just got to fight. That all you can do.”