Williams sisters set up clash, Nadal tested

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Williams sisters will hold another family reunion on centre court at the U.S. Open after registering wins on Monday that set up a tiebreaking, sibling clash in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.

Fourth seed Serena routed French wildcard Severine Bremond 6-2 6-2, while seventh-seeded elder Venus crushed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1 6-3 to book the rendezvous.

The sisters are 8-8 in head-to-head matches during their career, and 5-5 against each other on the grand slam stage so this one will bring bragging rights as well as a slot in the semi-finals of the year's last major championship.

"It's tough to play her because she is so good," said Venus, who won their last collision at this summer's Wimbledon final for her fifth singles title at the All England Club.

Serena rued the fact that the meeting between the two twice Open champions is coming so early in the championship.

"It sucks," Serena said. "Even the semi-finals would have been better than the quarters, but at least one of us will make it to the semi-finals."

Rafael Nadal was one step away from his first semi-final in New York after taking his turn at shooting down one of the big-hitting young guns at the Open to ride into the quarters.

The Spaniard, the top-seeded world number one for the first time at a major, dodged a bevy of bullets from 20-year-old American Sam Querrey, before capturing a 6-2 5-7 7-6 6-3 win.

In the last eight, Nadal meets unseeded American Mardy Fish, who beat 32nd seed Gael Monfils of France 7-5 6-2 6-2.

British sixth seed Andy Murray, 21, stormed into the quarters for the first time with a 6-1 6-3 6-3 demolition of Swiss 10th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

Murray next goes against Argentine 19-year-old Juan Martin Del Potro, who reached his first grand slam quarter 6-3 6-4 6-3 over Japan's 18-year-old Kei Nishikori in another tilt that underlined the advance of powerful young players on tour.

Arranging another women's quarter-finals date were a worn out Dinara Safina and Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

Safina, who complained of exhaustion, had enough pep to beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5 6-0. Pennetta, the 16th seed, routed former world number one Amelie Mauresmo 6-3 6-0.

HEAVYWEIGHT CLASH

The prospect of another Williams sisters showdown had the feel of a New York heavyweight clash. Serena has dropped just 14 games from her four matches, and Venus has lost 15.