Venus Williams reaches Stuttgart semis

Oct 3, 2008 - 7:29 PM STUTTGART, Germany (Ticker) -- While Dinara Safina may be having a great year, Venus Williams is in the middle of a Hall of Fame career.

Williams defeated the third-ranked Safina, 6-4, 6-2, on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, handling the 22-year-old with surprising ease.

Safina came into this hardcourt tournament having reached the final in seven of her previous nine events, winning four titles and going 41-5 over that span.

Williams, a former world No. 1 with 37 career titles and seven Grand Slam championships, was far from intimidated during her first encounter with the the upstart Russian.

The 28-year-old American never faced a break point during the 77-minute match and, after taking the first set, she roared to a 4-0 lead in the second.

Seeded sixth, Williams' opponent in the final four will be No. 2 Jelena Jankovic, a 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-5), winner over seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva. The Serb also defeated Zvonareva in the Beijing semifinals last week.

Williams has seen limited action this campaign, but saved her best effort for Wimbledon, where she beat sister Serena Williams in the final to claim the title for the second straight year and fifth time overall.

Safina took the title at Tokyo last weekend and had won 10 of her last 11 matches prior to Friday's setback. Her only defeat during that span came at the hands of Serena in at the U.S. Open semifinals.

Venus already has fared better here than top-seeded Serena, who was upset by China's Li Na on Wednesday and will lose her No. 1 ranking to Jankovic on Monday as a result.

Li's run came to end Friday as unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova eliminated her with a 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal triumph.

Another unseeded player awaits Petrova in the round of four as Victoria Azarenka of Belarus upset No. 3 Elena Dementieva, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-1, in their quarterfinal clash.

The 17th-ranked Azarenka had not won a set against the Russian gold medalist in two previous meetings, but forced 11 break points during this encounter - converting five - and played an impressive third set after faltering in the second.

First prize is $100,000.