2005 NASDAQ-100 Open News
By Eleanor Preston  |  March 30, 2005

After losing to her sister Venus in the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open on Tuesday, Serena Williams had ominous words for Maria Sharapova ahead of the semi-finals.
 
Venus had just beaten Serena for the first time in three and a half years and six meetings and reminded everyone, Sharapova included, that she is still a force to be reckoned with. ”I think that Maria should be ready to play, for sure,” said Serena.

Since this tournament began a Williams versus Sharapova semi-final has been talked about as a foregone conclusion. What has surprised observers at the Crandon Park Tennis Center, though, is the fact that it will be Venus and not Serena across the net from the Wimbledon champion.
 
There is no doubt that Serena will have her chance to renew her burgeoning rivalry with Sharapova, who beat her on Center Court and would have beaten her at January’s Australian Open semi-finals were it not for Sharapova’s inexperience and Serena’s extraordinary will to win.  

The rise of Venus adds a fascinating and surprising new dimension to women’s tennis though. The return to health and fitness of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, Serena’s victory in Melbourne and the continuing success of both Lindsay Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo have made the women’s top ten more competitive than ever before but a year ago Venus could no longer be counted in the same class as those names. Now she is playing like a serious contender again.
 
Sharapova has won her only previous match against Venus in straight sets but that was in Zurich in October last year and there is no doubt Venus is a different prospect this season.
 
“I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable, with a better rhythm now,” said Venus. “I'm just really dedicated to doing the right thing on the court.  When I make a mistake, I'm just trying to correct them.  If I don't move forward, then the next one I make sure I move forward whether I win or lose the point. Just little things like that.”
 
Little things like that make a big difference against the very best and having no doubt watched Venus against Serena she will know not to underestimate her opponent.
 
Sharapova’s bad back could also be a factor. She complained of it seizing up during her long match against Justine Henin-Hardenne and will have been glad of the day off between matches. In a semi-final where aggression and intent will be everything Sharapova will need to be fit and play well to beat Venus.
 
“It was a little sore,” said Sharapova. “Will it affect the rest of my tournament? I don’t know. It’s a tough call.”

With so much attention focused on the other side of the draw, top seed Amelie Mauresmo has been allowed to creep through to the semis largely unnoticed. She may prefer things that way and, save for a late wobble in the second set, was as unfussy as she could have been in beating promising 17-year-old Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4 to move into the last four on Wednesday.

Mauresmo will have her work cut out against Kim Clijsters, who is on the kind of run that other players dream about, even players who haven’t just recovered from a career-threatening wrist injury. Clijsters has now won twelve matches in a row and lost only once since returning to the tour in Antwerp last month (to Venus) and has an enviable record against Mauresmo, having won seven of their nine career meetings, including the last six on the bounce.
 
Tiredness may be the only thing that stops her from making the final.  

The men are assured of a Spanish finalist after both David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal made it the semis to play each other, a match which should draw plenty of crowd interest given Miami’s large Spanish-speaking population.  
 
Ferrer, who is unseeded, beat Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-3 and Nadal skipped past Thomas Johansson, making the former Australian Open champion look very ordinary indeed in a 6-2, 6-4 rout.
 
Thursday will see Tim Henman try to do the near-impossible and beat Roger Federer, while Taylor Dent has an all-American clash against six-time Nasdaq-100 Open champion Andre Agassi.

Agassi versus Dent should be the classic match-up of serve and volleyer versus baseliner and Dent is also explosive to watch when he’s playing well, as, indeed, is Agassi.
 
Henman has reason to be optimistic of stopping Federer from picking up what would be his 30th win of the season, if only because the Briton, who will be back in the Top Five of the world rankings on Monday whatever the result against Federer, has won six of their nine meetings.
 
It’s not often Federer is on the under-card but when Sharapova and Williams are playing there can be only one star attraction – even if it’s not quite the Williams we all expected.

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