Serena demolishes Sharapova in quarters

Russian admits to ‘sluggish’ display at Stanford.

STANFORD:

Serena Williams, playing only her third tournament since coming back from a long lay-off, was in dominant form as she beat world number five Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Bank of The West Classic in Stanford.

Williams, ranked 169th in the world, sent down 17 winners against Sharapova, who hit 23 unforced errors in her sixth straight loss to the American. Williams was happy that her hard work was paying off.

“You can’t go in against the fifth-ranked player with your mind everywhere,” she said. “I’ve put in a lot of work and I hope it continues to pay off.”

Meanwhile, Sharapova admitted that the American had been too good for her.

“It certainly wasn’t my night,” she said. “Serena was serving and hitting well and I was late in my reactions. I felt sluggish.”

Williams will meet Sabine Lisicki who beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 - in the semi-final.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2011.