Venus, Blake ousted as Europeans dominate

By Ossian Shine

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Europe tightened its stranglehold on the Australian Open when America's sole survivors were blasted out of the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Venus Williams went the way of sister Serena, battered by a Serb baseliner, and James Blake was pulverized by Roger Federer.

Wimbledon champion Venus was swept aside 7-6 6-4 by fourth seed Ana Ivanovic and top seed Federer smashed Blake 7-5 7-6 6-4.

"She played well and hit a lot of good shots... so I give her a lot of credit," the Wimbledon champion said. "I have nobody to blame but myself."

Ivanovic will meet Daniela Hantuchova in the semis after the Slovak pummeled Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-2.

Federer reached his 15th straight grand slam semi-final in imperious fashion, smashing Blake off court in a slugging battle.

"He's such a great player and he hits great shots," Federer said graciously.

"It's just great being around in the last weekend of a grand slam. It's a pleasure to play against him.

Following Ivanovic's victory, men's third seed Novak Djokovic made it a super Wednesday for Serbia when he beat Spain's David Ferrer 6-0 6-3 7-5 to seal a spot in the last four.

"This is just a start, hopefully I can go all the way. I have to start believing in myself a bit more," an elated Djokovic said.

It may take more than self-belief given that next up is the magnificent Federer bidding for his 13th grand slam title.

SAME RESULT

Venus had been looking to avenge Serena's quarter-final loss to Serb Jelena Jankovic, but the result was the same as she floundered on a sun-drenched centre court.

The American simply committed too many errors and allowed her 20-year-old opponent to dominate from the baseline.

Ivanovic grabbed her opportunity with both hands.