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Summary Serena Williams breezes past Maria Sharapova to reach the semi-finals of Stanford WTA tournament.
American Serena Williams thrashed second-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the WTA Stanford Classic in California, United States.In a battle of the two former world number ones, Williams delivered a dominating victory, breaking the second-seeded Russian in the first game of the match.With Sharapova struggling with her serve, Williams ran away with first set with the loss of only a single game.Sharapova, who reached to the Wimbledon final earlier this month, fared little better in the second set but it was not good enough and Williams breezed to victory in just over an hour.Williams quarter-final display showed she is still a contender despite being sidelined for eleven months by series of health problems and injuries.I mean, I am happy to be in the semi-finals, it doesnt matter who I was playing and you know I played solid. It is good to get that win under my belt, the 13-time Grand Slam champion said.Williams next faces Sabine Lisicki of Germany who battled to a 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 win over Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia eased past Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-1 6-1 to set up a semi-final clash with Frances Marion Bartoli whose Japanese opponent Ayumi Morita retired after the first set of their quarter-final.
