Toronto, August 22: Serena Williams put away Czech qualifier Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-2 in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals on Friday.
Williams, the 2001 champion, took less than an hour to set up a semi-final against No. 5 Elena Dementieva, who toughed out a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 win over Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
The No. 2-ranked Williams advanced to her seventh semi-final in 13 tournaments this season, but her first since winning Wimbledon in June.
Dementieva, seeking her third title of the year, exchanged breaks with Stosur six straight times in the first set. Stosur pulled away in the tiebreaker thanks to three consecutive unforced errors from the Russian. The final one, a simple forehand that Dementieva drove into the net, gave Stosur the set.
Dementieva stormed back to win the first four games in the second set, and finished it off on serve when Stosur hit a return long. The lanky Russian carried that momentum into the deciding set, taking a 4-3 lead by breaking Stosur at love.
Dementieva held serve and took advantage of two Stosur double faults, her eighth and ninth of the match, to close out the match.
By reaching the quarter-finals, Stosur will rise to No. 15 and become the first Australian in the top 15 since Alicia Molik in 2005.
—Agencies