ZURICH (Reuters) - Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova beat former world number one Venus Williams 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Zurich Challenge. Frequently putting Williams on the back foot in a battle of past and present Wimbledon winners, the 17-year-old Russian further underlined her country's domination of the women's game.
The world number seven was in almost constant control, combining fierce ground strokes and ferocious returns of serve to win in just 75 minutes. "I was able to pick up my game when I needed to and force her to make some unforced errors," Sharapova said. "I thought I was dictating the match throughout and I'm definitely playing with a lot of confidence." It was the Russian's 11th victory in a row, following on from tournament triumphs in Seoul and Tokyo.
Sharapova's win means she is almost certain to qualify for the end-of-season WTA Tour championships in Los Angeles next month which carry a one million dollar winner's prize. Williams's chances of being in the draw are likely to depend on how she and fellow American Jennifer Capriati fare at next month's Philadelphia tournament. Sharapova, seeded fourth in Zurich, will now take on third seed Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian semi-final.
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