Wimbledon, England (AHN) - The last remaining American hope at Wimbledon is alive and well and headed to the semifinals.

Venus Williams, who is the lone American woman left in the tournament after her sister Serena bowed out to Justine Henin in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, is a step away from her sixth Wimbledon final after defeating No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.

The straight sets win came after the No. 23 seed's enormous 6-1, 6-3 fourth-round victory over No. 2 Maria Sharapova on Wednesday.

Williams is seeking her fourth Wimbledon title and her first since 2005.

Her serve set up winners all day, topping out at 109 mph while slamming home three aces. She finished with 23 winners on Thursday and she broke Kuznetsova three times in 11 opportunities to move on.

"My return is very, very solid," Williams said. "That helps me and puts a lot of pressure on their service game."

Kuznetsova, who has not been able to advance past the quarterfinals in three chances at Wimbledon, committed 24 unforced errors and two double faults in the loss.

Williams will advance to play No. 6 seed Ana Ivanovic who outlasted Nicole Vaidisova 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.

Ivanovic, who advances to her first semifinal at Wimbledon, used seven aces, 30 winners and five breaks of Vaidisova's serve to move on.

Vaidisova didn't help her own cause as she committed 39 unforced errors and six double faults.

"I knew I could do it," Ivanovic said. "I knew I could make some good shots and be aggressive and move forward and put pressure."