Melbourne, Australia ? Venus Williams served at near-record speeds and overcame distractions from the crowd to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Williams wasn’t fazed when spectators loudly called some of her shots out. She responded with a burst of winners midway through the first set that helped carry her to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova today.

“I was fortunate to get through,” Williams said. “I don’t think Daniela played as well as she wanted to today.”

Williams is one victory away from a potential fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final against younger sister Serena, who beat her for three major titles last year. Serena plays her quarterfinal Wednesday against Meghann Shaughnessy.

Venus served six aces at speeds of up to 125 mph. She hit the fastest recorded serve in women’s tennis in 1998 at 127 mph.

Andre Agassi, meanwhile, moved to within two victories of his fourth Australian Open title by beating Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Agassi has lost only one set during the tournament.

In the fourth round Monday, No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt’s hope of becoming the first Australian men’s champion at the event since 1976 vanished in a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4 loss to Younes El Aynaoui.

Andy Roddick will face El Aynaoui in the quarterfinals. Roddick defeated Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.