NEW YORK -- So far, so good.

Richard Williams, tennis father and coach, surveyed the U.S. Open draw before the tournament began and decided it wasn't that complicated. Forget the rest of the women's field, he said. His daughters, Venus and Serena, would make the final a Williams family affair.

	The Williams sisters have a chance to play each other for the U.S. Open singles crown and team up for the doubles title.

The women's draw at the Open is down to the final four and the Williams sisters are still at it, one match away from making poppa's prophecy come true.

The next step on Friday will be the toughest of all. In semifinal matches, Venus Williams faces top-seeded Martina Hingis and sister Serena meets defending champion Lindsay Davenport.

And although the Williams sisters might end up as rivals in the singles final, they might also end up sharing the women's doubles title.

They continued their winning ways Thursday, defeating Mary Joe Fernandez and Monica Seles 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the women's doubles. They will next play Mary Pierce and Barbara Schett for a spot in the final.

Davenport and Serena Williams completed the singles semifinal pairings with three-set victories Wednesday. Davenport survived two match points and held off Mary Pierce 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Then Williams defeated former champ Monica Seles 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

A day earlier, Hingis beat Anke Huber 6-2, 6-0 and Venus Williams downed Barbara Schett 6-4, 6-3.

So what about pop's prediction?

"I still have one more match," Serena Williams said. "My dad has been right about a lot of things. If I can do well in this match, I know it will be great."

Davenport and Hingis are entirely capable of upsetting the Williams' plans. Both have won the U.S. Open and came into this tournament ranked 1-2 in the world.

Davenport has won 12 straight matches over the past two years at the Open and had not dropped a set until the quarterfinals against Pierce.

Hingis has been on a straight-sets march through the tournament and reached the semifinals at the Open for the fourth straight year. She has one championship and one runner-up finish.

Hingis has a 7-3 record against Venus Williams, including victories in three of their last four meetings.

Serena has beaten Davenport in two of their three meetings, both times on the same kind of hardcourts they're playing on at the Open.

That doesn't disturb Davenport, who will always have a warm spot in her heart for the National Tennis Center because she earned her first Grand Slam title there.

"I love the court here," she said. "It's fast. It's good for my game.

"I've had a good time trying to defend this title, whether it ends Friday, ends Saturday, whatever."

Davenport was asked if she might have preferred Seles in the semifinals.

"Serena is probably a little more athletic and plays a little better defense," she said.

For a while, it seemed Davenport might not reach the semifinals. Pierce had the defending champion in deep trouble but let her get away. A rain delay in the third set helped Davenport regroup after avoiding the two match points.

"I should have been home when the rain came," she said. "I'm just lucky to be there. Sometimes, it just turns the tournament around and you play even better after that."

Serena has taken a tough path to the semis, dropping the first set in each of her last three matches but recovering each time to advance. Venus, too, hit a speed bump when she dropped the first set of her match against Mary Joe Fernandez before rallying.

If they win Friday, the Williams sisters would play each other for the fourth time. Venus has won the first three and Serena thinks she knows why.

"Venus is a more powerful player than I am," she said. "I use more of the court than Venus, although she's doing that a lot better now.

"She has a bigger serve but I have more aces."

Both of them have made poppa proud, and after losing to Serena, Seles understood their father's confidence.

"Now it's Venus' and Serena's time," she said.