NEW YORK -- Venus Williams reduced her U.S. Open quarterfinal against Monica Seles to something akin to an instructional video.

	Two-time defending U.S. Open champion Venus Williams advanced a step closer to a third straight all-Williams Grand Slam final.

Want to see aces at more than 110 mph? Check. Some forehand winners? OK. Sure-handed volleying? There you go.

The two-time defending champion simply had too much in every department and beat Seles 6-2, 6-3 Wednesday night to join younger sister Serena in the semifinals, putting each one victory away from a third consecutive all-Williams Grand Slam title match.

Venus, trying to become the first woman to win three straight U.S. Opens since Chris Evert took four in a row from 1975-78, plays 10th-seeded Amelie Mauresmo next. Mauresmo came back to beat Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Against Seles, Venus set the tone by breaking serve in the opening game with a backhand drop shot as her father, Richard, took photos from the stands. Venus finished with 23 winners to six for Seles and won the point on 17 of 20 trips to the net.

''I don't think Monica played her best today. I know she was expecting to play better,'' Venus said. ''Being so windy out here made it more difficult.''

So did having to play Venus, who dropped just one point on her serve in the first set, and a total of seven in the entire match. Venus faced just one break point, at 4-3 in the second set, and quickly erased it by drilling an ace at 112 mph.

''She just served too well,'' Seles said. ''I couldn't read it at all.''

The other women's semifinal will have top-seeded Serena -- who lost to Venus in the 2001 Open final and beat her for the titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year -- against Lindsay Davenport. They won quarterfinals Tuesday.

Defending men's champion Lleyton Hewitt reached the final four by beating No. 20 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 6-1, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2 Wednesday. Hewitt's biggest blip was a double fault to cede the third set to El Aynaoui, who had a decent excuse if he was a step slow: His fourth-round match finished at 2:14 a.m. Tuesday.

Hewitt's semifinal opponent will be two-time Open champion Andre Agassi or No. 32 Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who met in Wednesday's last match.

Venus opened the night session with an impressive display. It was as though she wanted to show everyone that her three-setter in the fourth round Tuesday against Chanda Rubin was an aberration.

''I was trying to escape that match,'' Venus said. ''I don't like to play like that, especially in the Grand Slams, especially in the later rounds.''

Twenty minutes after her victory over Rubin, Venus was out on a practice court with her father, working on some things. Clearly, the fine-tuning paid off.

''The balls were coming back very fast,'' said Seles, who has won nine major titles and still is ranked No. 5. But she's now 1-8 against Venus and no longer has the court coverage to keep up with either Williams.

''It's really satisfying to know I've been able to work so hard to get to this level, where I can play so well against a player like her,'' Venus said.

Neither Williams reveals an iota of self-doubt on court, a quality that has helped them overtake Capriati to become 1-2 in the rankings.

Capriati blamed herself for the loss to Mauresmo.

''It hurts. Definitely hurts. Just a lot of expectation, a lot of pressure put on myself,'' Capriati said, her eyes red. ''There's a fine line, there's a balance. That's not good either, to just want it so bad.''

The three-time Grand Slam tournament champion served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but a double fault and two errors gave away the edge. Capriati also was hurt by double faults in the third set.

She used the words ''nervous'' and ''tight'' to describe her play. Later, responding to a question, she added, ''Well, I think 'getting tight' is basically saying you choked.''

Capriati generally prefers to play quickly, stepping up to the baseline right away to serve or return. Throughout the match, Mauresmo appeared to do what she could to disrupt that, often waving her hand to indicate she wasn't ready for the next point.

That's not all that bothered Capriati, who twice asked the chair umpire if the rock music playing on the speakers between games could be turned down. She also appeared to be thrown off by Mauresmo's tendency to change the pace during points.

''I was paying attention to what I was supposed to do and to me,'' Mauresmo said.

Capriati knows all about coming back from adversity, on and off the court. Only 26, she already has shuffled her priorities more than many people do in a lifetime: a French Open semifinalist in 1990, in drug rehab and off the tour in 1994, back on tour in 1996, ranked 267th in 1998, a Grand Slam champion for the first time in January 2001, and ranked No. 1 for the first time late last year.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Now Capriati wants to be back at the top.

''This has kind of been a new pressure that I've felt -- coming off being No. 1 and having such a great run,'' she said. ''Human beings are the only ones that go over and over and do the same mistakes over and over. We never learn.''