Serena Williams is through to the semifinals for the third time in Cincinnati.
© Scott C Petranek
Caroline Wozniacki fights past No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
© Scott C Petranek
Maria Sharapova overcomes Simona Halep in the quarterfinals.
© Bob Payne
Former World No.1 Ana Ivanovic rolls through to semifinals.
© Scott C Petranek
Top seed Serena Williams booked a spot in the Western & Southern Open semi-finals for the third time in her career with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic.
Serena, who is now 16-1 versus Top 20 opponents in 2014, broke the former champion five times and lost only two points when getting her first serve in during their 58 minute match.
The World No.1 is still looking for her first title in Cincinnati, after making six appearances. The only other event Serena has played six times without claiming a title is Sydney.
“I would love to win here. Absolutely. It would be great to win. But at the same time, I don't want put that pressure on myself.”
She will face former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semis, who defeated No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 7-6(5).
Wozniacki, who made her WTA debut as a 15-year-old wild card at Cincinnati in 2005, broke Radwanska four times en route to the hour and 43 minute win.
This marks Wozniacki’s second Top 10 victory of the week. She ousted World No.7 Angelique Kerber last night in straight sets.
The semi-final matchup will be the pair’s 9th meeting. The two had an epic three set battle in Montreal last week, with Serena winning it 7-5 in the third.
What does Wozniacki think of her chances? “She has played really well the last few matches. It's not going to be easy. I'm excited for the challenge. I really need to tennis to have chance to win.”
On the bottom half of the draw, former champion Maria Sharapova rallied to overcome World No.2 Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The two exchanged 16 breaks during their two and a half hour match, but it was the former World No.1 who pulled out her fifth win over the Romanian and improved her record here to 13-2.
“I'm willing to go out there and no matter how long it takes to run and play defense and turn that into offense, something I think I did quite well in the third set, which was a big factor for me,” Sharapova shared with the press.
Sharapova is through to the semi-finals in Cincinnati for the third time in her career and will face No.9 seed Ana Ivanovic.
Ivanovic, who advances to the semis for the second time, recorded her 46th match win of the season, defeating 19-year-old Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3.