They’ll Cut to Chase Today

Lindsay Davenport has always enjoyed success at the JPMorgan Chase Open, but she doesn’t expect it to come easily against Venus Williams.

“If she’s on and making all her shots and making a lot of first serves and making the forehand, then that’s too good,” Davenport said. “When she plays her best, she’s very tough to beat.”

Davenport is too. She has won this tournament three times and has advanced to its final in seven of the last eight years.

Davenport will face Williams in a semifinal match at 1 p.m. today after each recorded easy victories in front of about 1,200 fans Friday at the Home Depot Center.

Elena Dementieva of Russia and Serena Williams will play in the other semifinal at 7 tonight.

Serena Williams rallied to defeat Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, Friday night. Zvonareva, 19, matched Williams shot for shot until Williams converted a break point in the seventh game of the third set in front of 7,749, the largest crowd ever to witness an outdoor tennis match in Los Angeles.

The top-seeded Williams took, and lost, 3-0 leads in each of the first two sets before recovering to win thanks to a stronger service game that included 11 aces, six coming in the decisive third set.

“Someone in the crowd yelled, ‘We paid to see you win,’ ” said Serena Williams, the tournament champion in 1999 and 2000. “I didn’t know that came with the ticket. I need to get that ticket.”

Tickets to the semifinals came much more easily for Davenport and Venus Williams.

Davenport, seeded third, won, 6-1, 6-1, over struggling Nadia Petrova, who was seeded seventh but was finished off by Davenport in 48 minutes. Venus Williams defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 7-5, 6-1, in 1 hour 15 minutes.

“I did the things that I wanted to do,” said Davenport, who won 21 of 27 points (78%) on her first serve, 10 of 18 (56%) on her second serve, had nine aces and converted five of 10 break points. “I was helped out quite a bit by her level of play, but it’s a good win. Right now I cannot be anything but really happy with where I’m at and what I’ve been able to do, the last few weeks especially.”

Davenport outlasted Venus Williams for nearly three hours in a 7-6 (4), 5-7, 7-6 (4) victory in the Bank of the West title match Sunday at Palo Alto.

“I know she’ll be very eager to get revenge right away, so I’m going to have to play really well again at a high level,” said Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam event winner. “The key to my game plan has always been to try to break down her forehand. But I’m sure she’s had some conversations or worked on some things since Sunday.”

The second-seeded Williams, a two-time U.S. Open and two-time Wimbledon champion, and Davenport have met 23 times, and Williams leads, 12-11.

“My whole goal is definitely to make less errors [than on Sunday]. I just had a ton of errors,” Venus Williams said.

Dementieva, seeded fourth, strained a muscle in her right foot early in the second set of her match, but she recovered from both the injury and a 1-2 deficit in that set to beat Russian countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

The French Open runner-up was especially effective at the net, converting points on 11 of 14 approaches (79%). And Kuznetsova committed 50 unforced errors to 24 for Dementieva, who won the match as a birthday present for her mother in Moscow.

“I was hoping, doing everything possible to win this match and make her happy because she’s not here with me,” said Dementieva, 21, the only one of four Russian quarterfinalists to advance.

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Featured Matches

Today at Home Depot Center in Carson:

SEMIFINALS

* Lindsay Davenport vs. Venus Williams, 1 p.m.

* Serena Williams vs. Elena Dementieva, 7 p.m.