Dubai: Former champion Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday set a date with two-time winner Venus Williams in the semi-finals at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open.
Wozniacki, who won here in 2011 and made two semi-finals after that, was never really troubled by quarter-final opponent Sorana Cirstea, who committed far too many unforced errors and was beaten 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and two minutes.
Williams had earlier taken her winning run in Dubai to 13 matches to ease into the last-four with a fluent 6-3, 7-5 win over Italian qualifier Flavia Pennetta.
Friday’s first semi-final promises to be an interesting affair as both players are former world number ones.
Going into Thursday’s quarter-finals, Williams was the lowest-ranked of the eight players at world No 44, while younger sister Serena is currently the oldest world number one in modern women’s tennis.
“Obviously I have been working hard to get to this spot and everyone else has too. For me, I don’t really care who I play. I just want to be in the next round myself. Whoever I have to beat or win against, I have to work hard at it and hopefully do one step at a time,” Venus Williams said.
The first set was close, with Williams and Pennetta exchanging breaks early to be tied 3-3 after six games. The American then stepped up her game and won the next three games, serving out the set 6-3 in 32 minutes.
Williams had an early break for 2-0 in the second set, but Pennetta hung in there and took her stronger opponent to 5-5. Venus eventually broke one more time and then served out set and match in an hour and 38 minutes.
“I ended up having some break points and then she just kept fighting. She stayed relevant and that’s what she does really well. She stays in the point and I have to give her credit for that,” Williams said.
“I think I could have maybe made a couple more shots, but it’s not always easy against someone who competes as well as her. Obviously she’s been playing well.”
Even though Serena was also due to be in action Jelena Jankovic later in the day, Venus was not looking at a possible all-Williams final on Saturday. “I think that would be fantastic, but we both have to get there. I would like both of us to get there, so we’ll see,” she said.
Wozniacki came with a game-plan against her Romanian opponent and executed it to perfection. Early breaks in the second and fourth games gave the Dane a comfortable 4-1 cushion as she went on to take the set 6-1 in half an hour.
The second was equally easy as Wozniacki managed to keep attacking Cirstea’s backhand. “We’ve not played each other for many years so it will be interesting to play against a great champion like Venus,” the Dane said afterwards.
