New York - Former champion Venus Williams ended the run of French Open champion Francesca Schiavone at the U.S. Open when she beat the flamboyant Italian 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old American, seeded third and champion at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, had a little too much power for the seventh seed, battling through in one hour 54 minutes to reach the last four for the eighth time.
"She played a great match," Williams said in a courtside interview. "It`s not easy to play in these conditions, it`s hard to know what decisions to make, but she played excellent."
Schiavone, who became the first Italian woman to win a grand-slam singles title when she won the French Open in June, recovered from 4-2 down to force a tiebreak in the first set.
Breezy conditions made life difficult for both players and Schiavone came from 4-0 down in the tiebreak to make it 4-4 before Williams, wearing a sparkling pink dress, closed it out 7-5.
The American then stormed to a 4-1 lead in the second set only for the resilient Schiavone to break back and get on serve again at 4-3.
The Italian enjoyed plenty of success by feeding short slices to Williams, who made 33 unforced errors.
Williams broke again to lead 5-3 but once more, the Italian broke back, only for Williams to break yet again to clinch victory.
In the semi-finals, the American faces either defending champion Kim Clijsters or Australian fifth seed Sam Stosur. (Uu.A008/A016/P003)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com