Williams sisters, Henin hope to play way into quarters on Sunday

NEW YORK - Sep 2 : Venus Williams isn't getting ahead of herself just yet.

She knows there are two more tough hurdles to clear before a possible semifinal meeting with her sister Serena Williams, and the first one is on Sunday.

"We're a couple of rounds away," said the 12th-seeded Williams following Friday night's easy victory. "I think as long as we stay determined it can happen. It would be nice for both of us to get as far as we can and one of us be in the final."

Both sisters along with No. 1 seed Justine Henin top the women's slate on Sunday. All three play at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a berth into the quarterfinal round on the line.

Standing in the way of what would become Venus Williams' eighth quarterfinal appearance here is fifth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic. While Venus' has made it through to the Round of 16 in all nine career appearances, the 19-year old Ivanovic is making her fourth round debut here after becoming the first ever Serbian woman to reach a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros this year.

Like her counterpart, Ivanovic was an easy winner last time out by eliminating Russian Vera Dushevina, 6-1, 6-3. The 19-year old Serb has never defeated Williams in three prior meetings with the last being a straight-set defeat in the Wimbledon semifinals this year.

Williams, who went on to complete a remarkable win at Wimbledon, respects her Round of 16 opponent.

"She's definitely a good player, great competitor, and a nice person," said Williams.

No. 8 Serena Williams precedes her older sister at Ashe Stadium, opening the day's competition against 10th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.

The 22-year-old Bartoli, who has never made it past the third round here in five prior appearances, experienced a breakthrough at Wimbledon this year when she reached her first ever Grand Slam final before falling to Venus Williams.

Serena and Bartoli have only met once before, but Williams also got a good glimpse of her while watching sister Venus battle Bartoli at Wimbledon.

"I played her before and saw her play at Wimbledon," said Williams. "It's going to be a good match (on Sunday). She's doing really well so I'll have to be ready."

Henin - the runner-up here last year and the champion in 2003 - takes center stage during the night session against No. 15 Dinara Safina of Russia. Neither lady has lost a single set here thus far.

If she hopes to avoid joining fellow Russians Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova as an early exit, Safina must reverse past fortune and earn her first-ever win against Henin. The tournament's No. 1 seed has triumphed in all three previous meetings, including a straight-set victory in the fourth round here in 2003.

Other than the 2003 win, the fourth round has been a trap for Henin in the past. The native of Belgium has been tripped up at that stage in five of her eight U.S. Open appearances.

No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia looks to move into the quarterfinals for the second straight year here when she faces 19th-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria for the first time at a Grand Slam event in the day's final singles match at Louis Armstrong Stadium. They have gotten together on six occasions elsewhere with Jankovic owning a lopsided 5-1 record.

Bammer has yet to drop a set this tournament, most recently posting a 6-1, 6-2, victory over No. 14 Elena Dementieva of Russian. Jankovic dropped the first set her last time out before recovering to beat unseeded Alize Cornet of France, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.