Williams sisters prepare to deliver unique one-two

French Open: Venus exerts familiar superiority over Seles while Serena quickly overwhelms Pierce as Americans advance to semi-finals

Richard Williams has made so many extravagant claims that have been proved correct concerning the careers of his remarkable daughters, Venus and Serena, that it would come as no great surprise to see the American sisters ranked Nos 1 and 2 in the world on Monday.

This unique event is half-way to fruition after yesterday's results in the women's singles quarter-finals at the French Open here. Venus, who defeated Monica Seles, 6-4, 6-3, is guaranteed to regain the top spot from Jennifer Capriati. Serena will move to her older sister's shoulder if she beats Capriati, the defending champion, in the semi-finals tomorrow.

Neither Williams sister has previously reached the last-four at the French Open. In the quarter-finals yesterday, Serena, the third seed, overwhelmed Mary Pierce, the former champion who carries the banner for France, 6-1, 6-1, after 49 minutes.

Capriati advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win against Jelena Dokic who fought hard, but was no match for the Australian Open champion in the third set, ending the match with a double-fault.

With regard to the prospect of being No 2 to Venus, Serena said: "I have to win the match [against Jennifer first]. I don't necessarily want to be No 2 in my career. I would like to do better than that."

Venus's semi-final opponent is Clarisa Fernandez, of Argentina, ranked No 87, who is playing in the main draw here for the first time. The 20-year-old Fernandez defeated her compatriot, Paola Suarez, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1, in a duel to decide who would be their nation's first representative in the last-four since Gabriela Sabatini in 1992.

"I'll have to play well, like always," Venus said. "Somewhat like when I played Justine [Henin] in the Wimbledon final. When you play someone and they have nothing to lose, it makes it a little bit more difficult. But I have a small advantage of experience."

Although Capriati is in tenacious form, few would bet against a Williams sisters' final on Saturday. Those who anticipate that it will happen will hope for a more exciting contest than the one Venus won against Serena in straight sets in the United States Open final last September.

Seles was so full of a cold yesterday that you would have thought twice about sitting next to her on the Metro. But the former world No 1 was not for making excuses. Cold or no cold, she said, Venus was the better player on the day.

From the point of view of the spectators who filled Suzanne Lenglen Court, it was a pity that Seles was not capable of offering sterner opposition to Venus, who won, 6-4, 6-3, after 74 minutes.

The opening 22 minutes were full of promise. Seles, attempting to repeat the aggressive display that enabled her to win their quarter-final at the Australian Open in January, created three break points at 1-1. Williams picked them off, giving Seles little option but to hit a forehand long on the first, erasing the second with a smash, and saving the third with a backhand drive. She finished the game with an ace.

Seles had no time to reflect on the lost opportunities. She was broken for 1-3 in the next game, as Williams' solid returns and powerful groundstrokes were accompanied by thunder and lightning. Play was halted for 30 minutes, after which Seles broke back for 3-4 and then held to level at 4-4.

Thereafter, the match reverted to the familiar pattern of Williams' six wins in a row against Seles prior to their meeting in Australia. Seles was broken in the 10th game to lose the set, but responded with characteristic spirit, breaking to love in the opening game of the second set. Williams, generally moving better and hitting the ball sharper, did not allow Seles any further gains, breaking back to love in the next game and capitalising on her opponent's errors to break again for 4-2.

"My timing was off from the first game right to the end," Seles said. "It was just one of those days that my strokes did not feel they were there, and I hit so many unforced errors."

Albert Costa, of Spain, advanced to the men's semi-finals, defeating Guillermo Canas, of Argentina, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-0. He was still waiting to learn his next opponent as darkness fell, his compatriot Alex Corretja being stranded at 7-6 7-5 4-5 in his match against the Romanian Andrei Pavel.