Venus, Nadal Impressive Between Rains at Wimbledon

"I've had a lot of success here -- five finals, which is a lot," Williams said. "Centre Court has just been good to Williams in the last seven years or so. So it's a good thing if your last name is Williams here...I'm really a big match player. I get up for these matches. I know what I'm doing."

Joining Williams in the semis was No. 6 seed Ana Ivanovic, who benefited from a choking No. 14 seed Nicole Vaidisova, who served for the match in the third, but upon being broken quickly folded in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss.

Ivanovic saved three match points to reach her first Wimbledon semifinal.

"Today I still probably haven't realized what happened," said Ivanovic, who won when Vaidisova double faulted on match point. "It was an unbelievable match. To win like this was amazing."

Vaidisova was constantly looking for help from her camp in the player's box as she threw away the match late in the third.

"I'm a very emotional player and person," Vaidisova said. "I think it can go both ways -- I think it can be my strength but it also can be my weakness. But of course there's a limit to it. Something you have to work on."

Ivanovic said she got her jitters out early.

"I was really intimidated when I first stepped on the court," Ivanovic. "But then as the match went on, I tried to focus on my game more...In the third set, even when I was a break down, I just knew I could do it. I had the feeling I could win this match."

Scheduled for Friday at Wimbledon are the women's semifinals in (6) Ana Ivanovic vs. (23) Venus Williams, and (1) Justine Henin vs. (18) Marion Bartoli.

"It's going to be very tough match. Venus is in a great shape," Ivanovic said.

Nadal Pulls Out Another Rabbit at Wimbledon

Four matches were completed Thursday before rain halted play at Wimbledon, with No. 2 Rafael Nadal staging a monumental comeback from two sets down to defeat No. 14 seed Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

"I was in the match right from the start but the inspiration came later," Nadal said. "When it did come in it gave me a most important victory. He is a very good player on fast surfaces, and I lost against him the last two times I met him on hardcourts, in Dubai and at the US Open. But more than the win I am happy for my game. The last three sets, I never play better."

Other winners were No. 4 Novak Djokovic topping No. 16 Lleyton Hewitt 7-6(8), 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(5); No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis straight-setting No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-3; and No. 7 Tomas Berdych baking two bagels in defeating No. 19 Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7(6), 6-0.

World No. 1 Roger Federer's match was suspended with the Swiss leading No. 20 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 5-5, and Andy Roddick vs. Richard Gasquet never got underway.

Baghdatis was supported by a rowdy group of Cypriot fans.

"They motivate me and give me energy," Baghdatis said. "It was tough out there. He gets all the balls back but I just tried to put it in the court more than him, that's why I won."

Djokovic had his back treated during the match, with Hewitt accusing him of gamesmanship after the match, and going on to say the Serb will be the underdog in the next round against Baghdatis.

Scheduled for Friday are (7) Tomas Berdych vs. (2) Rafael Nadal, (1) Roger Federer vs. (20) Juan Carlos Ferrero (to finish), (10) Marcos Baghdatis vs. (4) Novak Djokovic, and (3) Andy Roddick vs. (12) Richard Gasquet.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
NBC Sports says it has reached an extended deal with Wimbledon through 2011. NBC is in its 39th year of coverage of the Wimbledon championships, which is the sports division's longest partnership ever...From the AP: "Mandy Moore, the angel-faced actress and sometime singer, interrupted her recent concert in Manhattan to grumble for a moment about the men who did her wrong. 'You know, guys suck,' she proclaimed, her sweet facial expression diluting any post-breakup bitterness. 'I don't want to make a sweeping generalization, but some guys suck! And I've come across a few.' The statuesque 23-year-old, who split from TV star Zach Braff last year and has dated tennis hunk Andy Roddick and man-about-town Wilmer Valderrama, sings through some heavy stuff on 'Wild Hope,' her first studio album in more than three years." -- Yow, hope she paid a visit to the clinic after dating Wilmer.