Serena has no mercy for Mauresmo

TENNIS/French Open: They have failed for years to keep the garrulous French crowds silent during play at Roland Garros. Yesterday, Serena Williams, the pre-eminent player in the world and chasing her fifth successive Grand Slam title, buttoned them. Johnny Watterson writes from Roland Garros

She achieved that by beating up the darling of French tennis, Amelie Mauresmo, on Centre Court. Beat her up for a breathless 64 minutes and ejected her from the tournament.

The battering was not easy on the eye. Given the match's significance as the gateway to a Grand Slam semi-final, Mauresmo had gone into it with hopes soaring and national expectations weighing heavily, a combination that has held her game hostage before in her career.

But after the first ball was struck, the packed French crowd was hushed. From there on the only noise was the roar of the American moving smoothly up through the gears to earn her seventh win over the 23-year-old in eight outings.

It is not the first time in Paris Williams has turned her match into something of a gladiatorial spectacle, as the ruthless 6-0, 6-0 decapitation of Barbara Schett in the third round in little over 40 minutes had shown. Although it was Mauresmo, not Williams, who had gone into this quarter-final not having dropped a set, the French girl departed 6-1, 6-2.

"I didn't play the tennis I can play today and that's the real point," said Mauresmo. "In the first set I was thinking mostly to get rid of tension but I didn't manage it. Mentally, I've been able to manage things up until now and possibly not so well today. The beginning of my match was a bit catastrophic and the rest just followed."

Twice in the first set Williams served to love as she sped to a 4-0 lead in just 12 minutes, Mauresmo unable to get her serve or her nerve in competitive mode. Ten minutes later, in a flurry of mis-hits and netted groundstrokes, the set was over, 6-1.

Mauresmo had won 11 points in total and only three of those on her first serve.

It was clear the French number one was choking, a condition to which, despite her vast talent, she is prone. Even an uncharitable cry from high up in the tiers of Stadium Henri Chatrier of "Wake up, Amelie" failed to penetrate her private gloom.

Dropping serve in the first game of the second set indicated Mauresmo had not yet played her way into the match and, again, Williams raced to 4-0, winning two service games to love and breaking Mauresmo's serve twice.

In the fifth game Mauresmo's play picked up and she broke Williams but by then all was lost. Mauresmo double-faulted next game to hand the service break back, letting Williams serve out for the match.

"At the end of the second set I was playing a bit better. It was too late. When you just wake up after a set and a half to Serena, it's a little bit too late. After 4-0 or 5-2 in the second, I think it's too late," said Mauresmo.

Williams faces Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semi-final but in the American's sights is Margaret Court's sequence of 35 Grand Slam match wins in succession. She was also reminded that Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova put together a record 45-match sequence over seven Grand Slams. That would require Williams to win her fifth successive Grand Slam crown here, then win again at Wimbledon before travelling to New York in September and last three rounds at the US Open.

"I'm not thinking about it," said Williams. "I have to beat Justine to get there and she's playing well. It's gonna be tough for me. If I do that (win here) then I think maybe I'll have a chance of passing Margaret Court for sure because I think I'll get past the first round at Wimbledon."

Henin-Hardenne beat Chanda Rubin of the US 6-3, 6-2, while Russian Nadia Petrova saw off fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the third set to earn a meeting with Belgian world number two Kim Clijsters, 6-2, 6-1 conqueror of Conchita Martinez of Spain.