Tennis/Wimbledon Championships/Women's Singles: At some God-chosen stage in a tournament, it gathers wings, takes off and soars. It's then some players begin to rise above the throng, start to assume the body language of a champion.

It is as though they suddenly catch a glimpse of the end point and a furious energy starts to drive them forward. Where it comes from, only champions know, but a murderous thirst for victory is in the mix and a proven game that can withstand the fires of expectation.

It was evident on centre court yesterday when Serena Williams knocked out Jennifer Capriati in three sets that she may have experienced some kind of epiphany, a revelation of what it is she is here for. Yesterday, the title-holder took her game to another level, the first time in the tournament she has done so - the first time she has needed to.

A clear elevation of urgency, an increase in the breadth of power, effort and aggression has brought both Serena and Venus Williams one step closer to winning the family's tenth Grand Slam title. Serena is seeking her sixth Grand Slam, while Venus has already won four.

Only two Belgians stand in their way, Justin Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters. The top four seeds move into the semi-finals. A tournament served up entirely to order. Whatever next? Of the two Williams, it was Serena's muscular brand of Fight Club tennis that took her past Capriati, perhaps one of just a handful of players who would not wither before such a sonic game. Capriati pushed her to three sets and consistently threatened to force a down turn in the family fortunes but once Serena picked up her service after the first untidy set, it was her compatriot who was required to scramble.

"You know she really played well," said Capriati. "There was a lot out there that I couldn't do. I think she had to play her best tennis there, to raise her game completely to beat me. I held on to my serve great, except in the third set. She had to step it up, to elevate her game.

"She's got so much strength too, and that's how she wins a lot, her strength and her serve," she added.

Two service breaks during Capriati's strongest spell of the match, the first set, challenged Williams to produce a better brand of tennis. While she matched Capriati off the ground and in her fearlessness in retrieving seemingly lost causes, Williams also hindered her own progress in the match with messy play and a growing number of unforced errors.

Haemorrhaging points like she was doing here has been Williams's downfall before and her own claim is she's unbeatable unless the unsolicited donations of free points reach a critical level. It did in the first set, with just one ace to show and a winning percentage of just 64 per cent on her first serve. Alarmingly, she was harvesting just 34 per cent of the points off her second serve.

Luckily, Williams was able to address the problem and institute change and her game picked up. Although both earned break points against serve, it was Williams who grasped them, breaking Capriati twice for a 6-2 second set.

While the 27-year-old continued to cover the ground and return with power off both sides, Williams began to spill less. When she broke serve early in the third set to win her seventh successive game, it was then the momentum swung decisively in favour of the world number one.

A shaky game where Capriati rattled but did not break the Williams serve finally ended with Williams

unshakably stepping forward for the place in the semi-final.

"I knew I was gonna have a tough day today," she said. "I haven't beaten her (Capriati) yet on grass, so I knew I was in for a match. I just had to come back. I at least wanted it to go to three sets if I could."

"Another semi-final, have the nerves set in?" Williams was asked. "I have no nerves," she replied rushing off to play doubles with her sister.

Facing Henin-Hardenne in the semi-final is likely to be fractious. The words "liar" and "fabricator," which Williams used towards Henin-Hardenne in Paris after the Belgian had beaten her in the semi-finals have not been withdrawn and the interest surrounding Williams's tearful departure as well as the ugly scenes from Roland Garros centre court have already been revisited.

"I think we are professional enough to do this," said Henin-Hardenne in an effort to defuse the issue. "You know, there is no problem between us. Half an hour ago we talked for a minute in the locker room. I mean we are probably going to have a long career together. It's better if we can have this kind of relationship."

"So no hard feeling on your part?" Henin-Hardenne was asked. "None at all. None at all."

Venus, also picked up her game against Lindsay Davenport and finally buried the fraught images of "the other Venus" in Paris, where she had not quite gotten over a stomach muscle injury. Her 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win stretches her winning streak against the 27-year-old Davenport to six matches, going back to Wimbledon in 2001. Afterwards Davenport denied she would be retiring soon but failed to convince anyone it was not on her mind.

"Time's running out. I don't know how many more I'll be playing in," she said about her chances of winning another Grand Slam. As to whether she would return next year, she was even less persuasive.

"We'll see, I'm not sure. It definitely ran through my mind out there that this could be my last singles match out there."

Kim Clijsters lost her first set of the championship before walloping Silvia Farina Elia 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 while Henin-Hardenne ended 18-year-old Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova's interest, 6-2, 6-2.