Venus Williams suffered a second set scare before she powered her way to a 6-4 1-6 6-1 victory over Nathalie Tauziat in the quarter-finals of the US Open.

The win sets the Wimbledon champion up with a semi-final tie against Martina Hingis - the top seed she beat on the way to her Wimbledon triumph earlier in the summer.

Third seed Williams was put under pressure by her French opponent who dominated the second set to force a third set decider.

But early breaks against the eighth seed's serve helped Williams to a comfortable third set win.

It also means the possibility of an all-Williams final against her sister Serena, who faces fellow compatriot Lindsay Davenport.

Williams bottomed out, in more ways than one, against Tauziat by making 31 unforced errors on the court as well as an embarrassing one off it, when she landed on her backside after missing her chair as she went to sit during a last-set changeover.

"I really missed," Williams said. "I was just angry and I couldn't see."

But her opponent was amused by the whole episode: "I couldn't stop laughing," Tauziat said. "It was funny."

Williams said he had become frustrated with the number of errors she made: "I was a little bit upset when I was playing, about the way I was playing.

"In the second set I was angry and I don't play well when I'm angry. It's just not acceptable for me.

"I never get upset when I'm playing. But I did. It was strange. I was too busy thinking about the points before and not focusing on the points ahead.

"That was the main battle for me I thought I had quit playing tennis like that."