Williams sisters to meet in Bangalore semis

BANGALORE—The Williams sisters will face each other in the semi-finals of the Bangalore Open on Saturday, their first meeting since the 2005 U.S. Open.
World number seven Venus was back on form as she beat Vera Zvonareva 6-4 6-3 in 90 minutes in the quarter-finals on Friday and third seed Serena demolished unseeded Anastasia Rodionova 6-1 6-4. Fourth seed Patty Schnyder was the first player to reach the last four, wearing down big-serving Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova to win 4-6 6-4 7-6.
Swiss Schnyder will now meet the winner of the match between top seed Jelena Jankovic and China’s Yan Zi to be played later on Friday. Americans Venus and Serenaa, who have 14 grand titles between them, are tied at seven-all in their head-to-head meetings. “(It) would have been nice if we’d met in the final,” Venus told a news conference.
Venus, 27, showed considerable improvement from her inconsistent display in the second round against Chinese Peng Shuai when she committed 15 double faults. Second seeded Venus led 5-1 in the opening set before the Russian seventh seed broke her twice as she won three straight games. Venus, a former world number one, squandered five set points before breaking her 21st-ranked opponent in the 10th game to take the set. “I did have to concentrate to play well,” Venus said. “I tried to relax a little more and string my racket tighter. That helped.” Venus took control of the second set, making a crucial break in the fourth game after the two had traded early breaks. Left-hander Schnyder used clever placements to tire her taller, 23-year-old opponent.
Amanmuradova, ranked 83 in the world, outgunned the world number 12 from the baseline to win the first set but the wily Schnyder countered in the second. Schnyder, 29, went 3-0 up before Amanmuradova rallied to 4-5 but the Uzbek double faulted at a crucial point to hand her opponent the set. “I had a slow start but then I found my game, especially on my serve,” Schnyder told a news conference.
“I needed some time to get some good chances on her serve. At the end I thought I was playing better.” Amanmuradova’s series of unforced errors cost her dearly in the final set after the two had traded early breaks. Amanmuradova saved three match points to push the set into a tiebreak which the experienced Schnyder clinched, dropping just one point.—Agencies