Serena Willaims shrugged off her unseeded status and delivered a dominating 6-1, 6-3 victory over second-seeded Maria Sharapova Friday to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Stanford tournament.
Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion who is unseeded thanks to the slump in her ranking caused by a lengthy injury layoff, showed she’s still a contender among the game’s elite as she overpowered Sharapova, who struggled throughout with her serve.
Williams was playing just her third tournament since she won Wimbledon in 2010. She was then sidelined for 11 months by a series of health problems including a cut foot that required surgery and blood clots in her lungs.
Currently ranked 169th, Williams defeated Sharapova for the sixth straight time and improved to 7-2 overall against her.
Williams next faces big-hitting German Sabine Lisicki, a 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-2 winner over fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.