Serena Williams advances at Bank of the West
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Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Serena Williams reached the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic, beating No. 6 seed Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-4, 6-0 Friday.
No. 5 seed Yanina Wickmayer beat No. 2 Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-2 for the first time in four meetings.
Wickmayer next faces American Coco Vandeweghe, a lucky loser, who knocked off Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 to make the semifinals of a WTA Tour event for the first time.
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The 37th-ranked Wickmayer recorded her third career top-10 victory with the win over 10th-ranked Bartoli, and the first of the season.
Sorana Cirstea of Romania ousted No. 3 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0. Cirstea will next face Williams.
Vandeweghe, ranked 120th, earned a spot in the main draw after three players withdrew due to injuries.
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Williams, the only higher seed to win on the day, said she's still affected by jet lag and did not get much sleep Thursday night.
"I woke up at 1 a.m. and didn't want to take anything so I just stayed up," Williams said. "At least I got to finish 'Desperate Housewives,' my favorite series ever. I was crying as always. It's so sad it had to end."
Williams started slow and finished strong.
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"I knew I was going to start slow, but I expected to stay consistent and hang in there," she said. "Finally, I started moving better."
Williams and Cirstea will meet for the first time, and it's a match that Williams has been looking forward to play.
"I think it's going to be a good match," Williams said. "She has a good serve, which is why I love her game."
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Cirstea, who will represent Romania at the Olympics, improved to 5-7 against top 20 players with her win over Cibulkova, who won their two previous meetings.
"I did not feel comfortable at the start," Cirstea said. "Then I got used to her pace and I served pretty well. I was playing better match to match."