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Serena Williams and sister Venus on course for final after quarterfinal wins on Thursday
Serena rushes past Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2; Venus battles past Flavia Pennetta 6-3 7-5
Venus to meet Caroline Wozniacki in semis following the Dane's 6-1 6-2 win in quarters
Serena Williams remains on course to meet her sister Venus in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships after both won their quarterfinal matches on Thursday.
The world No. 1, who crashed out of the Australian Open last month to Ana Ivanovic, made light work of Serbian opposition this time around beating Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2 to set a semifinal against either Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain or France’s Alize Cornet.
“It definitely felt a lot more comfortable than my first match,” Williams said, WTATennis.com reported, referring to her 7-6 6-0 win over Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday.
“There were some shots I missed today that I would never have missed a month ago, so I’m still getting a little rust off, but it feels good overall. And I’m still trying to make sure I keep going in the right direction,” Williams added.
Earlier, sister Venus overcame Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-3 7-5 to set up a semifinal clash with Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki.
Surprisingly, Williams had lost four times in their seven previous meetings which, bar a couple of matches, have been tight affairs.
Thursday’s quarterfinal was no different with Pennetta clinching an early break of serve to go up 3-1 in the first, but it proved to be a false dawn for the world No. 22 as Williams reeled off seven games on the trot to take the first set and go up a break early in the second.
Pennetta eventually fought back to level the set at five games all before Williams regained her composure to serve out the match.
“She keeps fighting. She stays relevant. That’s what she does really well - she stays in the point,” Williams said afterwards, WTATennis.com reported.
“I have to give her credit for that. I think I could have maybe made a couple more shots, but it’s not always easy against someone who competes as well as her. She’s been playing well,” Williams added.
The last time 33-year-old Venus beat her younger sister was in semifinals in Dubai in 2009. Serena has won their last five meetings and leads the head-to-head 14 matches to seven.
Eighth seed Wozniacki made lighter work of her match against Sorana Cirstea downing the Romanian 6-1 6-2.
