Switzerland's Martina Hingis has failed to reach the final of the WTA tennis tournament in Hamburg after being beaten 7:2, 6:3 by Venus Williams.
The American defending champion frustrated Hingis's ambitions of a strong build up to the French Open in a cold and wet 72-minute semi-final.
Williams, playing with speed and power, showed no signs of a leg strain from a few days earlier.
Hingis was hoping to use the clay-court event as a springboard to Roland Garros after a disappointing start to 2002 tennis season.
Currently ranked fourth, Hingis suffered a shock defeat to Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the final of the prestigious Indian Wells tournament in March.
Rubbing salt into the wounds is the fact that Hingis won the $585,000 Hamburg tournament in 1998 and 2000.
swissinfo with agencies