TENNIS/Wimbledon Championships: There was a Venus to Earth moment yesterday. The officials had just finished scraping Elena Likhovtseva off the Centre Court and Venus Williams was rushed into an interview before returning to a different part of the complex to continue the Williams sisters hegemony in the doubles event when she was asked about perfection now being her benchmark.

"No," said Venus. "I realise that I might never be perfect. I think I'd definitely have to go out and practise more."

So the cat's out of the bag. Venus will only achieve perfection if she practises more. Practise for perfection or don't practise and still treat an opponent to what it might feel like to be a palm tree in a hurricane, Likhovtseva playing the part of the vegetation.

The 6-2, 6-0 win puts Williams in the semi-final along with Belgium's Justine Henin, who ended Monica Seles's run.

For Williams it is another step towards what could be her fifth singles Grand Slam title and third consecutive Wimbledon title. In five matches so far she has been on court for four hours 40 minutes, or under an hour per match.

Her serve has averaged 109 m.p.h. while Tim Henman's has averaged 108 m.p.h., which possibly tells you less about Venus and more - as much as you need to know - about the British number one.

Venus gave the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) officials some pause for thought on their plan to carry out-of-competition testing next year.

A bogus tester had turned up on her doorstep just before Wimbledon, she said. "Someone tried to get into the development doing a drug test. If I wasn't tested in the next two hours I wouldn't be playing on tour. You know there's always someone at the gates trying to get in."

WTA spokesman Chris de Maria said they were working out how best to implement the programme. "Although the point of the test is that it's random we will try and make sure that the representative is someone who is known to the player," said de Maria.

"Obviously with the problems nowadays of stalkers which Serena and Martina Hingis suffered we have to be careful, so we're going to work on educating the players on what to look out for."

Venus backed the random tests, although she said that she did not believe that the problem was widespread in the sport. "I wouldn't be against it," she added.

However, she admitted she would have problems with someone turning up at her door unexpectedly. "I don't think that's a good idea. I wouldn't let anyone in my house if I'm not expecting them. Showing up at the door, you kidding?"

Jennifer Capriati is one of those trying to get in and yesterday took a step closer with a three-set win over unseeded Greek player Eleni Daniilidou. The match was twice interrupted by rain.

On Monday the delays meant that play was stopped at one set each because of bad light and yesterday the match was again delayed by the rain before the American number three seed finally polished off Daniilidou 6-1 on outside court 18.

Capriati faces Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals, a player she has beaten three times in their last four meetings.

"It's tough to come back after a rain delay, especially if it takes a day," said Capriati. "But it would have been really tough to beat her if we'd continued. I knew I had to come out and play well today.

"I was a little disappointed to see an entire men's match scheduled before me but I'm glad things turned out the way they did.

"I think I'm playing well. With these conditions the tennis can get a bit ugly and it's tough to see where you're at. But I'm through."

Capriati also made last year's semi-final where she lost to Henin. This year they can only meet in the final.

Henin faces Venus Williams, who beat her in the final last year, in the next round. The sixth seed, who had never beaten Seles before, defeated the former number one after two close sets, the first 7-5 and the second in a tie-break where Henin strode to a 6-2 lead to claim four match points.

From there even the proven fighting qualities of 28-year-old Seles could not get her back. Although she declined to speak about it, this may be the last time Wimbledon sees the nine-time Grand Slam title winner as she has spoken of retirement.

But Henin was irresistible and while her backhand is roundly admired, it was her forehand that did much of the damage in a match twice delayed by showers.

"She played the key points a lot better both sets," said Seles. "I thought I could have been a bit less error-prone. I had a hard time finding the range with my ground strokes.

"Venus, she is playing flawless tennis. But Justine will want revenge for last year and it's the semis and anything can happen."