Serena Makes Australian Open Semis

Tuesday, January 23rd 2007, 6:37 am

By: News On 6

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) _ Serena Williams willed herself to win. Sluggish early and constantly facing break points, she found just enough Tuesday to beat 16th-seeded Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 and advance to the Australian Open semifinals, continuing her pursuit of an eighth Grand Slam title.

``I am the ultimate competitor,'' said the former No. 1 player, who came in unseeded after playing only four matches last year due to injury and briefly dropping out of the top 100.

``Definitely ready to create some more carnage,'' she added with a smile. ``I feel absolutely no pressure. I don't think anyone thought I would get this far, except for me and my mom.''

Part of her competitive skills depend on how well she deals with adversity, and there was plenty against Peer, who had 13 breakpoint opportunities but was only able to convert three. Williams also shrugged off letting a 4-1 lead slip away in the deciding set.

``I get so calm,'' Williams said of difficult patches. ``I'm floating. I feel so happy. It just relaxes me and releases. It's just a pity it doesn't happen when I was up 4-1.''

Williams next faces 17-year-old Nicole Vaidisova, who beat fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-4.

On the men's side, sixth-seeded Andy Roddick was nearly perfect in beating longtime friend and former housemate Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, making only four unforced errors. He will meet top-ranked Roger Federer, who downed No. 7 Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5.

``Today I played pretty flawless, I thought,'' Roddick said, adding he couldn't recall if he'd ever had so few errors. ``I feel good going into the semis.''

Federer, who lost to Roddick in the finals of an exhibition tournament 10 days ago, struggled a little on a chilly, breezy night, getting broken four times. He was shaking his head after shanking several volleys and mis-hitting other balls, one which went into the stands on the fly.

But he came up with his best when he needed it, taking the last five points of the tiebreaker, then breaking Robredo as he served at 5-6 in the third.

With his strong defensive skills, Robredo often made Federer hit more than one good shot to take a point, but had only 17 winners to 28 unforced errors.

``It was a very tough straight sets. I'm very happy to be through,'' said Federer, whose parents and sister were courtside for the first time at Melbourne Park. ``I'm happy I won in front of them.''

He said the chilly, breezy conditions were challenging.

``It was a big adjustment,'' Federer said. ``The court didn't take that much bounce, so you had to work really hard tonight.''

What the Williams-Peer match lacked in skill _ they combined for 83 unforced errors to 50 winners _ it made up for in drama. On paper, the unseeded Williams was the underdog, but Peer was the type of player that she would have dispatched with ease in her prime.

Williams, who said she has been fighting a bad cough, was moving like every point was a chore. She shrieked after errors as Peer jumped ahead 3-0, then finished off the first set.

Williams conceded a number of points, barely moving. Normally, she would be picking on Peer's weak serves, but instead was bashing them long or into the net.

``I think I put a little pressure on myself going into this quarterfinal,'' Williams said. ``I think I came out a little flat. Maybe I was just a little nervous.''

Peer abruptly lost her focus in the second set. Serving at 2-2, 15-30, she double-faulted, then committed six consecutive unforced errors.

Williams, urging herself on with shouts of ``Come on!'' and slaps to her thigh, took the last four games of the set and showed flashes of her old brilliance, smacking three of her 11 aces in one game.

``I actually got more confident in my serve as the match got on,'' Williams said.

But the problems continued. Williams faced break points in five of her seven service games in the deciding set. She broke Peer to jump ahead 3-1, only to see the Israeli tie it up at 4-4

Williams fended off five break points in her next two service games. Serving at 6-7, Peer sent a backhand volley long to set up match point, then a backhand wide.

Williams was given little chance coming into the tournament amid questions about her fitness and preparation. The victory was sweet vindication.

``When you're down, people sometimes try to kick you,'' she said. ``It's like people get pleasure out of talking bad. You don't just knock someone so hard when they're trying just to make it. No one knows what I went through off the court. No one knows anything that I've been through.''

Roddick, at the top of his game, showed his old buddy no mercy, slamming aces and clean volleys while whipping wicked winners.

Fish said he thought it was the best Roddick had ever played against him _ a pretty big compliment from someone who practiced almost every with Roddick for about two years, including 1999, when Fish lived with Roddick's family.

Roddick had three of his 10 aces in the last game, getting his fastest of the match _ 228 kph (142 mph) _ to set up match point. When Fish couldn't get the next serve back, there was no jubilation by Roddick. Both players, their heads down, trudged to the net where they shook hands and chatted briefly, each with an arm over the other's shoulders.

``Being that we're close, I think it takes away maybe a little bit of the elation 'cause you're not really solely focused on your side of the court,'' Roddick said. ``I tried my best to kind of put our friendship to the back of my head before we went out there. It's a weird, weird situation.''