Kuznetsova topples Venus

The Russian will bid to reach the final for the fourth successive year when she faces unseeded Alona Bondarenko, who advanced when fellow Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko retired with a wrist injury while trailing 6-2 3-1.

Top seed Justine Henin defeated unseeded Italian Mara Santangelo 6-2 6-1 and next plays fourth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic, who progressed when Anna Chakvetadze of Russia retired with a shoulder injury when trailing 7-6 3-1.

Kuznetsova was outplayed in the opening set as an aggressive Williams hit a succession of sizzling groundstrokes.

It was difficult for Williams to maintain such a high standard and Kuznetsova's determination to battle for every ball helped her level matters.

Williams, who stayed in contention despite hitting nine double-faults, broke for a 4-2 lead in the deciding set before the resilient Russian reeled off four games in a row.

"I was fighting a lot and I think that was the key today," Kuznetsova told reporters.

"In the second set I told myself it's a new set and I was going to have chances and to keep fighting."