Serena tops Venus in quarter-final thriller

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Serena Williams fought off 10 set points to prevail in the greatest duel yet with sister Venus, a heart-stopping 7-6 7-6 victory that put her in the U.S. Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

Played with uncommon ferocity and passion from both combatants, Serena emerged triumphant in the gruelling two hour 25 minute battle to reach the final four at Flushing Meadows for the first time since her 2002 win.

The eight-times grand slam winner turned away two set points in the first 8-6 tiebreaker and eight more in the second set, including four in the final 9-7 tiebreak, which ended with a Venus forehand drive landing beyond the baseline.

"I can't believe I won," Serena said courtside. "Wow."

With the victory Serena edged to a 9-8 advantage in her head-to-head sibling rivalry with Venus.

"I think we played a great match today," Serena said. "It just boiled down to one point here and there."

Serena put on an amazing display of athleticism, racing from corner to corner to retrieve rocket forehands from Venus, stretching, straining and even sliding into a full split along the baseline trying to run down a blast.

The win sent Serena to the semi-finals against sixth seed Dinara Safina, a 6-2 6-3 winner over Italy's Flavia Pennetta. Friday's other women's semi-final will have second seed Jelena Jankovic against Olympic champion Elena Dementieva.