Williams sisters both lose within a few minutes
Serena lost to Jennifer Capriati and Venus fell to Anastasia Myskina.
PARIS (AP) -- Serena and Venus Williams were knocked out of the French Open quarterfinals within 30 minutes of each other today.
Jennifer Capriati overcame an erroneous call by a linesman on match point and beat Serena 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. Sister Venus was eliminated a half hour later, losing to Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 6-4.
When Serena failed to return a shot that skipped off the baseline, Capriati began to celebrate before realizing her shot had been called out. Umpire Pascal Maria overruled the call -- correctly, as TV replays confirmed -- and ordered the match point replayed.
Williams again hit a shot into the net, and Capriati resumed her celebration. The rivals traded smiles and kisses at the net before a gleeful Capriati bowed to the four sides of the center court stadium.
"I don't even know what happened at the end with the call," Capriati said. "I was just happy for him to say replay the point."
Capriati, the 2001 champion, was joined in the final four by Myskina and Paola Suarez, both first-time Grand Slam semifinalists. Suarez, 27, beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3.
Myskina, 22, played steady tennis and waited for errors by the No. 4-seeded Venus Williams. The No. 6-seeded Russian saved three break points in the final game, all on wayward backhands by Williams. On the final point Williams hit a backhand wide.
Injury
No. 2-seeded Serena Williams, who was sidelined for eight months after undergoing surgery on her left knee last August, appeared to favor that leg at times during the final set. She bent over after one errant shot, winced after another and declined to chase a Capriati drop shot that went for a winner.
The loss marked the second disappointing finish in a row for Serena Williams at the French Open since she won the 2002 title. She lost a tumultuous semifinal last year to Justine Henin-Hardenne.
"This year I really made it tough on myself by not performing and making a lot of errors ... and by basically not doing anything on a professional level," Williams said. "I was an amateur today."
Trying to end points quickly, Williams committed 45 unforced errors.
When she dumped an easy backhand into the net in the final game, she crumpled to the clay in dismay. Usually the better server, Williams had five double-faults while Capriati hit only one.
The No. 7-seeded Capriati won the final three games.
She twice came to the net behind deep returns to win points and broke serve for a 5-3 lead, then coolly served out the match -- sometimes a problem for her.
"It's about time, I think, that I won one of these matches," Capriati said. "It's been a struggle for a long time to get through, because what would always happen was the same pattern -- I'd be winning and then just let it slip away and not be aggressive."
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