Venus Outlasts Jankovic in Thriller, Keeps US Alive at US Open

With sister Serena already eliminated, Venus Williams conquered the pressure as the last American in the US Open quarterfinals Wednesday night, feeding off the vocal crowd to edge No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

The No. 12-seeded Williams is in the US Open semifinals for the first time since 2002, and will next face world No. 1 Justine Henin who ousted her sister.

Venus pressed the net against the Serb, coming in 55 times during the match.

"I wanted to come in today," Venus said. "I got lobbed a few times. I got passed a few times. But ultimately I think it really made a difference because I was trying to move forward. I think it made a difference in the tiebreak on the last point, just charging down the line and coming in. It's worth it."

After the loss, Jankovic said it's been a long year.

"It's good for me that I even got the quarterfinals because I haven't been at my best and I'm a little bit tired," Jankovic said. "My game has a little bit gone down. It's not where it used to be, especially in the beginning of the year, because maybe I played a lot of matches and my body's getting tired."

Facing each other in the second semifinal will be (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Agnes Szavay, 6-1, 6-4, against (6) Anna Chakvetadze, who topped (18) Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-1.

"A lot people compare me with Martina [Hingis]," Chakvetadze said. "I don't know. You know, I change it because I never played like this when I was a junior. I was hitting really flat balls, and after that I couldn't just win a match. That's why I change it. I knew that needed to do something else."

Peer said she felt thankful to get as far in the tournament as she did.

"I came to this tournament injured, so very strange," Peer said. "I had my rib -- my joint between my ribs were inflamed and I didn't play for five days. So actually it was kind of strange I was doing so well here. I didn't know if I'm going to go on court the first match. So like I'm really, really disappointed because I beat Anna this year. I mean, she's a great player, but I don't know. I mean, she's playing the same as few month ago and I'm playing the same...I was just talking with my coach and we were talking about the match. I was pissed and everything and I was crying."

Kuznetsova says she will have the veteran's edge in the semifinals.

"She's upcoming player," Kuznetsova says of Chakvetadze. "I think the difference going to be I just have a little bit more experience. I been in semifinal before. It's her first time in semifinal. She's playing well. Definitely the pressure going to be more on me, but still I will try to stay tough, to play tough and, you know, just to enjoy the tennis."