Williams will bid to complete a calendar grand slam at the U.S. Open from August 31, a pursuit that kept her early struggles in perspective on Saturday.
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Serena had found herself down a break many times in her last match against Ana Ivanovic where she lost her first set of the tournament.
Serena Williams dominated Karin Knapp to claim her 45th win of the year as she cruised into the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. “I got off to a super slow start today but I started going for it and I think that helped me out”.
As the former number one puts another notch in her record books, she’ll have to prepare heavily when she faces current world number one Serena Williams in the quarterfinals Friday.
“Elsewhere, Simona Halep defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 6-2 and will now take on Jelena Jankovic in the other semi-final after she beat Slovakian qualifier Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4 6-2″.
“It definitely feels good to be back in the finals”, Williams said.
She stormed into the round of 16 with a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2 scoreline.
Williams’ 6-4, 6-3 victory over Rising Ukrainian Elina Svitolina came with nine double-faults, including three in succession that handed Svitolina a critical break in the second set. Now, the Belarusian will have to go nurse her leg and head to New York minus the preparation and ranking points that could’ve positioned her better in the draw at the US Open.
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Halep has beaten Williams twice in the last two seasons, including an Indian Wells semi-final in March. Beating the player who is expected to be the No. 2 seed would be another plus. She managed just 14 winners in the match, compared to 34 for Williams. “I just decided that if I wanted to stay out here and keep playing, I had to pick my game up a level”.
