U.S. OPEN 1999: SERENA ON TRACK FOR OPEN SISTER ACT : SECOND WILLIAMS ADVANCES TO SEMIS.

Byline: Bonnie DeSimone Chicago Tribune 

The U.S. Open semifinals have a sister apiece.

Serena Williams wore down and ultimately overpowered a sluggish Monica Seles in Wednesday's quarterfinal to earn a date with defending champion Lindsay Davenport. Their Friday clash will be back to back with the back-baring Venus Williams, who will try to shoulder past '97 winner Martina Hingis.

It is the first time in 102 years that sisters have appeared in the same semifinal round at the U.S. championships and it comes at a time when Serena, 17, and Venus, 19, seem primed to alter the orbit of every player they meet.

Serena, who appeared at her postmatch press conference cuddling a Jack Russell terrier puppy, said she allowed herself only a few moments of celebration.

``Believe it or not, it already has settled down,'' said Williams, who prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and pounded 15 aces to Seles' one. ``I'm ready to move on.

``It's going to be a fun semifinals. It's pretty exciting for women's tennis. Again, we're always carrying the men's tennis.''

Seles, the fourth seed, acknowledged her lack of fitness probably kept her from advancing in the Open.

``I think it's obvious,'' she said. ``I have my strokes and everything is there. Physically, I can't cover the court as well.''

No. 2 Davenport fended off an upset by fifth-seeded Mary Pierce of France. The 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory represented the first time Davenport had dropped a set in this Open, but she said she didn't mind being tested.

``Sometimes it just turns the tournament around, you play even better after that,'' Davenport said.

Pierce lashed three consecutive aces to clinch the second set and appeared to have momentum well into the third. But serving at 5-4, she was unable to capitalize on two match points and netted a backhand on Davenport's second break point of the game.

The scattered raindrops that began to fall during that game bloomed into a light shower, forcing a rain delay of more than an hour and giving Davenport plenty of time to steady herself.

She came back, held serve and then fenced with Pierce during a four-deuce final game. Facing Davenport's second match point, Pierce missed her first serve and trembled visibly as she tossed the ball up for her second. It sailed long and wide for a double fault and tournament's end.

``I'm just proud of my effort,'' Pierce said. ``This match probably motivates me more, opens my eyes even more to what I need to do.''

On the men's side, No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia waited to see which straw he would draw in the semis. It turned out to be No. 2 Andre Agassi, who toppled Nicolas Escude of France 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4.

The Netherlands' 12th-seeded Richard Krajicek looked as if he would one-shot-deal his way into the Open semifinals. Krajicek crushed 48 aces in his five-set, three-tiebreaker match with Kafelnikov, a figure believed to be a men's record. The previous high was 46, set by Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 1997.

But Krajicek's magic wand was not enough to cast a lasting spell. Kafelnikov blew a two-set lead but eventually prevailed 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5).

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PHOTO (color) Serena Williams slams a backhand at Monica Seles during their quarterfinals match Wednesday at the U.S. Open.

Ron Frehm/Associated Press