Tennis: Serena focuses on Wimbledon hat-trick

9.30am

LONDON - Serena Williams turned her thoughts to winning a third successive Wimbledon crown after annihilating rival Jennifer Capriati in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

"It's been something on my mind since the beginning of the tournament, you know having the opportunity to win three in a row," said Williams, who is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1993 to win three consecutive singles titles.

"This is always a place that I feel I'll be able to dominate. It's one of the best tournaments to dominate at. I kind of feel that way because I do have a good game on grass whether I want to admit it or not."

Serena was sidelined for eight months with a knee injury after beating her elder sister Venus in the final of the grasscourt grand slam last July.

Although she triumphed at the Nasdaq-100 Open on her return in March, Serena appeared to be losing her aura of invincibly after suffering a handful of uncharacteristic defeats.

Her loss to Capriati at the Roland Garros quarter-finals earlier this month raised further doubts about whether she would ever be able to regain the form that earned her six grand slam titles.

On Wednesday, she emphatically underlined her title aspirations with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Capriati.

"I'm really happy with my performance here because it's been a really hard 12 months for me," said the top seed. "Coming back to Wimbledon, I'm really feeling good for the first time since I've been back.

"That's what I'm most excited about. I'm bending for balls and I'm not having any pain. I'm not even worried about feeling pain. I'm running without having any doubt in my mind. So that's the big plus for me, not mentally but physically as well.

"For the first time I'm feeling really good. I'm running without any doubts in my mind.

"I think I played the best since last year's Wimbledon, for sure."

Serena had beaten Capriati in nine of their previous 16 meetings but Wednesday's showdown proved to be the most one-sided.

A determined Serena took just 45 minutes to book her place in the last four against Amelie Mauresmo, sending a firm warning to all those hoping to end her reign as Wimbledon champion.

"I just came out strong and smokin'," said Serena.

Women's singles matches today (prefix denotes seeding):

Quarterfinals:

4-Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt 9-Paola Suarez (Argentina) 6-0 5-7 6-1

1-Serena Williams (US) bt 7-Jennifer Capriati (US) 6-1 6-1

Semifinals tomorrow:

1-Serena Williams (US) v 4-Amelie Mauresmo (France)

5-Lindsay Davenport (US) v 13-Maria Sharapova (Russia)

- REUTERS