WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova spoiled the prospect of an all-Williams semi-final at the Miami WTA tournament on Tuesday.
Hours after Serena Williams was victorious in her quarter-final, Kuznetsova defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4.
The Russian held serve throughout the first set, winning all 14 of her first-serve points. Tied at 3-3 in the second set, Kuznetsova broke Williams to go up 4-3 and ended up serving out for the match.
"I just felt a little bit off," said Venus, who has won the tournament in 1998, 1999 and 2001. "I didn't have the answers today, and she played well.
"I'm always happy for Serena to win. It would have been obviously very exciting for me to win too, but it just didn't happen."
Younger sister Serena Williams beat the world's top female player Justine Henin 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Williams won the final 10 games by playing nearly flawless tennis, while Henin played below usual level after she double-faulted three times to fall behind 4-2.
Serena, who beat Henin here in last season's championship match, captured three breaks in each set of the 80-minute match.
It was another tough loss for the 25-year-old Belgian, who was playing her first tournament since being upset by Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals at Dubai.
