Venus reaches Zurich semis

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:06

It is the first time the American has reached the final four here since winning the hardcourt event back in 1999, when, at the age of 19, she beat then world number one Martina Hingis to claim the ninth of her 37 career titles.

Williams, who has now won all five career meetings with Schiavone, described her performance as “okay”.

She added: “Obviously any time when I win I feel pretty good, but she is a good competitor and she went for a lot out there, but it went good for me.”

Williams’ path to the title will get a little tougher in the semis as second seed Ana Ivanovic awaits after posting a 6-1 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova.

The other semi-final will be a battle of unseeded players as Italy’s Flavia Pennetta and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain will square off.

Pennetta, who ousted world number one Jelena Jankovic on Thursday, topped Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-2, while Medina Garrigues moved through when Victoria Azarenka retired from their match with the score tied at 4-6, 6-3.

Azarenka appeared to suffer a muscle strain just below her right shoulder during the second set and opted to concede the match prior to the start of the third.

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