Black Tennis Pros

Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams struggled in the first set on Thursday against Australia's Alicia Molik but eventually prevailed to move into the semi-finals at the Japan Open.

The American top seed, heavily favoured to win here, lost her serve twice in the first set, each time on a double fault, but the six-time Grand Slam winner's experience helped her to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 quarter-final win.

"I had some problems with my errors, which was frustrating," said the world number eight Williams, who hit six double faults.

"But she also is a really good competitor -- she brings a lot of balls back and serves well -- so I was definitely up against a competitive opponent who obviously has skills to win the match."

Molik, ranked 74th, came back from 1-3 and then 2-4 down to level the score each time before forcing a tie-breaker in the opening set.

But the Australian hit her forehand wide twice on her serve to quickly fall behind 0-3 in the tie-breaker. Williams hit an easy forehand winner at the net on her first set point.

The two women stayed on serve in the second set until Molik hit a double fault to go down 3-4, sending Williams on the path to victory.