Venus to face Jankovic in Stuttgart semis
Williams will play Jankovic for a place in the final in Germany
Also In The News
|
Portsmouth have confirmed they are to make an official complaint to the Football Association over the abuse aimed at Sol Campbell by Tottenham fans last weekend. |  |
Saturday, 04, Oct 2008 11:30
Venus Williams has beaten third seed Dinara Safina in straight sets to seal a place in the semi-finals of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Williams won 6-4 6-2 and will now face soon-to-be world number one Jelena Jankovic in the last four.
Although Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles in her career, including this year's Wimbledon, Safina has been in much better form than the American and has risen to third in the world.
However, Williams showed her class and was dominant in the first meeting between the two players.
Venus broke in the ninth game of the match thanks to her prowess at the net and was able to serve out to claim the first set.
The second set was more comfortable for Williams, she broke the Russian twice to ease into the semi-finals.
Jankovic had a much harder time overcoming Vera Zvonareva. The Serbian required tie-breaks to win both sets against the Russian, eventually taking the match 7-6 (10/8) 7-6 (7/5).
Jankovic had to fight from a break down to force the tie-break in the first set and was 2-0 behind at the start of the second set but consistent errors from Zvonareva allowed her back into the match.
The win means Jankovic will take over from Serena Williams as world number one on Monday after Williams lost to China's Li Na in the second round in Germany.
After the match Jankovic said: "That was a hard game, but I am pleased to be in the semi-finals.
"It's a great accomplishment to be world number one and I don't know anyone who is not happy about being the best in the world at something."