STANFORD: Seena Williams celebrates after her win against Ana Ivanovic during Day 5 of the Bank of the West Classic at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium here Friday. — AFP Photo STANFORD, United States, Aug 2 (AFP): World number one Serena Williams fought off a determined Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 Friday to reach the semi-finals of the WTA hardcourt tournament at Stanford.
The top-seeded American booked a Saturday showdown with eighth-seeded German Andrea Petkovic, who thwarted a possible all-Williams semi-final with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 triumph over Venus Williams.
Top-seeded Serena, playing her first tournament since she departed Wimbledon looking weak and woozy, said the one hour, 57-minute match against Ivanovic confirmed she had regained her fitness in the wake of the virus that hampered her at the All England Club.
"I'm feeling really good," she said. "I had some long rallies and I wasn't out of breath at all, so I was, like, 'Yay!'"
But former world number one Ivanovic, seeded fifth, didn't make things easy.
The Serbian took the opening set in just 25 minutes, but Williams had raised her level and taken a 5-2 lead with one break of serve in the second even before Ivanovic received on-court treatment for a tight hip after the seventh game.
Although she seemed to be in some discomfort Ivanovic held serve to narrow the gap to 5-3 before Williams pocketed the second set and broke Ivanovic to open the third.
"It wasn't very easy," Williams said. "Ana plays very well, this court is a little fast so she really was hitting a lot of shots. I just fought and stayed in there."
Trailing 3-1 in the third, Ivanovic won three straight games to take a 4-3 lead.
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