Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Sports » Tennis » Reuters > Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Rusty Venus battles into Memphis SF
Get Sports updates:What's this?
Advertisement
February 23, 2007 09:53 IST

Former world number one Venus Williams battled past fellow American Laura Granville 7-6, 6-4 to reach the Memphis International semi-finals on Thursday.

The seventh seed, continuing her comeback after more than four months out through injury, won the first set in a tiebreak and came from 3-0 down in the second set to clinch victory.

Williams will meet Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru in the semi-finals after the 16-year-old advanced when fourth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur retired at 5-1 down due to a virus.

American Williams stormed into a 4-1 lead but world number 66 Granville battled back well to force a tiebreak, only for the seventh seed to take it 7-2.

A third set looked a real possibility when Granville broke on her way to a 3-0 lead in the second but Williams won five straight games and held three match points on her opponent's serve at 5-3.

Against the odds, Granville held serve but the respite was only brief as Williams served out to love, clinching victory with her seventh ace.

"There were games where I was making four errors," Williams told reporters.

"A lot of times I just wanted to hit such a great shot that I ended up hitting not such a great shot at all. So I have to hit shots a little more average and set myself up a little better.

"But I feel like I played a really good match, especially from the 0-3 point I felt like I started getting my feet in a good position. And my serve has definitely improved since the first match."

Top seed Shahar Peer cruised into semi-finals with a 6-0, 6-3 win over American Bethanie Mattek.

Peer, who did not drop a game in the previous round, made it three love sets in a row before having to come back from 3-1 down in the second.

"I didn't expect the first set to be that easy but I played unbelievable, much, much better than in my last match," the Israeli said.

The world number 17 next plays American Meilen Tu, who beat defending champion Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-0, 6-2.



© Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
 Email this Article      Print this Article

© 2007 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback