With her younger sister urging her on from the box seats, Venus Williams overpowered Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-3, 6-3 Friday to reach the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
"She came out and gave it everything she had," Williams said. "I just stood my ground. She's one of those players who likes to rally all day while I prefer the short points."
Serena, who had to withdraw from the tournament because of an ankle injury, sat in the front row with their father Richard. Venus received advice from her father and encouraging words from Serena.
The match was delayed nearly 20 minutes after the first game of the first set when paramedics treated an elderly woman in the stands. She fainted and was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures.
The second-seeded and 10th-ranked Williams, who reached her fifth semifinal in 10 years at the event, meets third-seeded Patty Schnyder, who beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1.
Jankovic was impressed with Williams in their first ever meeting.
"Some of her points were amazing," said the 20-year-old player. "She reached everything. Sometimes I was really shocked. I thought I could do something but I couldn't do anything. It was like I wasn't there on the court."
Williams delivered an efficient victory and was able to power up at important points.
"I rarely guess where the ball is going to be hit," Williams said. "I just watch it and get there. I still have to buckle down mentally because sometimes I float away."
Williams has reached the finals of this event five times, winning it twice. She lost last year's final to Lindsay Davenport, who dropped out of her first match Thursday with a bad back.
Fourth-seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters beat Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1 and will meet Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who rallied to defeat Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the other semifinal.
Andre Agassi arrived earlier this week wanting to test himself both physically and mentally after eight weeks off. So far, he's passed every time. Agassi beat former top-10 player Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
"Today was a good step for me, to play against a guy that can hit the ball as well and as big as Paradorn," Agassi said.
He will meet Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, a 6-4, 7-6 (3) winner over Belgian Xavier Malisse, in the first of Saturday's semifinals. Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia will face Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the second semifinal.
Hrbaty, the No. 2 seed, saved seven match points in a second-set tiebreaker and beat Ricardo Mello of Brazil 4-6, 7-6 (9), 6-2, while Muller, a left-hander, topped Indianapolis winner Robby Ginepri of the US 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Hrbaty, who trailed 6-1 in the 12-point tiebreaker, said once he rallied to win that he knew the outcome "would depend on me. You have to be really tough not to think about [wasting seven match points] and fight again a whole set from the beginning."
Agassi, a three-time tournament champion and this year's top seed, said he has been "pleasantly surprised" by his progress this week.
Defending champion Nicolas Massu overcame oppressive heat and Nicholas Lapentti, helping to give Latin America three of four semifinal berths.
On Austria's hottest day of the year with on-court temperature over 50?C, the seventh-seeded Chilean outlasted Lapentti 6-4, 6-7 (0), 6-2.
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