Williams sisters hold the key to American celebrations

Come the Fourth of July – and the women's semi-finals – and the United States might have reasons to be cheerful about its tennis after all. Week two in the men's event is without American representation for the first time since 1922 but there are seven contenders from across the pond in the women's last 16.

They are led by Venus and Serena Williams, the No 1 and No 2 seeds, who remain on course for a repeat of last month's French Open final, which the younger sister won. Monica Seles (No 4) and Jennifer Capriati (No 3) are still on course to stand in their respective paths in the last four. The star-spangled septet are completed by Lisa Raymond, who meets Venus today; Chanda Rubin, who is looking to upset Serena; and Laura Granville, the 21-year-old qualifier who beat the powerful Mary Pierce in the third round and faces another big-hitter, Amelie Mauresmo, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Realistic challengers to the top three are few and far between, although Belgium (in Justine Henin) and Yugoslavia (in Jelena Dokic) will be hoping to spoil Uncle Sam's year. The downside to their hopes is that neither has been consistent in progressing. The upside is that the same applies to the Williams sisters. Both were taken to three sets in the third round, with Venus looking especially vulnerable early in her match on Saturday against Canada's Maureen Drake, ranked No 110 in the world.

"I just felt I was playing too passive, too tentative and I was a little disappointed with myself," said the defending champion, who wore a protective patch on her knee, limped slightly and played erratically on her way to victory, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

"I wasn't ready to go home," she added. "I wasn't ready to give it up just yet." Her response to losing the opening set was a brute show of strength thereafter. Her opponent today, Raymond, progressed past the 1994 champion, Conchita Martinez, in three sets.

Though upsets in the Williams household these days tend to stretch little further than deciding whose turn it is to win a final, Serena just possibly faces an upset against Rubin today. "I'll go out and be aggressive," said Rubin, who has been hampered this season by wrist and knee injuries but came back to win in Eastbourne last month. "But I'm going to have to be consistent and match her shot for shot and just work through the match."

The 26-year-old has never been beyond the third round in 10 appearances in the singles in SW19 but is yet to drop a set this year. Now, using the Williams sisters as an inspiration, she is hoping to send one of them home early. "You have to admire [their belief]," she said. "They were definitely an inspiration. I thought it was just great to see them stepping up and this year Serena has really stepped up. I think she always had the ability and you're just seeing the results."

One player yet to attain the ultimate result here, 13 years after her debut, is Seles. She beat Ai Sugiyama on Saturday but it was not comfortable. Yet the nine-times Grand Slam winner still believes she is capable of lifting the only Slam title that has evaded her. "At this stage [in my career], the one thing that drives you very hard is that you want to win any Grand Slam. And that's one of the reasons that I'm playing."

Seles lost the first set to Sugiyama before prevailing 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. "I started sluggishly but got a good wake-up call when I lost the first set. It made me really play and got me focused," she said.

The 28-year-old added, when asked about retirement, that she could now see the end of her day playing days. "But I'm just going to play and when that point comes that my body or my mind is tired, I will stop and enjoy a little bit of life." Enjoyment today could be found with a win over Tamarine Tanasugarn, which could lead to a quarter-final with last year's runner-up, Henin.

The 20-year-old Belgian plays the Russian Elena Dementieva today after overcoming Myriam Casanova, of Switzerland, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. "It was the third qualifier I'd played and I didn't know anything about her," Henin said. "It's hard to play someone you don't know. She was hitting the ball so hard it was difficult to find rhythm."

Another player who has struggled with rhythm is Dokic, who meets Daniela Hantuchova in the day's glamour encounter. Capriati, meanwhile, takes on the unseeded Eleni Daniilidou, while the Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva meets Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.

On Saturday Likhovtseva ended the Wimbledon dream of the Briton Elena Baltacha. The 18-year-old Kiev-born, Scotland-raised tractor girl, whose father Sergei used to play for Ipswich, next turns her attention to a Challenger event in Felixstowe. Emerging from her 6-4, 7-5 defeat with a lot of credit and the biggest pay cheque of her career – £17,000 – Baltacha said: "I'm going to go shopping and treat myself. I've had a brilliant week. I learned a lot and it has given me a boost for the future."

Her standing in the game – she is No 295 – will also be in for a boost when the rankings are updated next week. Just don't expect drastic changes at the top of the order.