Playing on an injured ankle, Serena Williams outlasted Maria Sharapova on Friday to reach the semifinals of the 2008 Family Circle Cup.
After dropping the second set, Williams rebounded back in the third for a solid 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
Although the two former world number one stars had met six times in the past, this was their first meeting on clay. Heading into today’s meeting, Serena led their head-to-head record 4-2.
Today’s rallies were long, and both players took advantage of the net, but it was Serena Williams who emerged victorious after two hours and thirty minutes of match play. Serena slipped in the quarterfinals yesterday while playing Katarina Srebotnik and sprained her ankle, but the injury did not hamper her game at all on Friday.
Williams will face French teenager Alize Cornet in Saturday’s semifinal round.
