Peer matches Venus' serve, but can't net win

Shahar Peer fought valiantly against third-seeded Venus Williams on Sunday in their U.S. Open fourth-round match, but ultimately came up short against the superstar for the sixth time in her career. Peer managed to take the first set into an a 22-point, 11-minute tiebreak before ceding the match to the heavily favored Williams.

Williams will face French Open champion Francesca Schiavone for a semifinal berth after beating the 16th-seeded Israeli 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday. It was the tenth time Williams has reached the tournament quarterfinals.

	Shahar Peer reacts to a missed shot against Venus Williams, September 5, 2010.
	Photo by: AP

"I do think it can give me more for the future, because every time I played Venus I had a tough time and she was always kind of killing me every match," Peer told the New York Times. "So today was much closer match, and I think I'm playing better."

"Winning the first set always feels good," said Williams, whose younger sister Serena watched from the stands. "Instead of having to regroup and figuring out how you're going to win the match."

Peer broke Williams' big serve twice and played solidly, making only 13 unforced errors, three fewer than the American, who appeared to be bothered by the swirling wind inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams got only 48 percent of her first serves in. She faced six break points and lost three. She squandered five chances to wrap up the first set in a 22-point 12th game and spent much of her time pulling up her dress - a red "daytime" version of the black, sequined number she wore two nights previously - barely keeping it thigh-high level.

For much of the first set, the two-time champion looked more like someone who was trying to find her form - which she is after missing most of August with an injured left kneecap - than someone breezing her way through the tourney.

But Williams finally found her form in the tiebreaker, taking four consecutive points - including a service winner and ace - to lead 5-1. There was one more blip for Venus, a double-fault at 6-2, her sixth set point, but she closed it with a big cross-court forehand that forced an error by Peer.

Williams was much more solid in the second set, ultimately dismissing Peer in a little under two hours. Peer hasn't made the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament since 2007, when she appeared in that round at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, with titles at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001. But before coming to New York this year, Williams hadn't competed anywhere since June 29, when she was upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by 82-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova.

Late Sunday night, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal dismissed France's Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round date with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.