Sport
Venus Williams advances to Brazil Tennis Cup semis
Venus Williams in action at the Brazil Tennis Cup against Garbine Muguruza of Spain
Venus Williams beat fifth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Brazil Tennis Cup.
The top-seeded American broke Rybarikova’s serve at 5-4 to win the first set and quickly took control of the second to clinch the victory in 1 hour, 25 minutes at the hard court tournament in southern Brazil.
Williams faced nine break points to the 52nd-ranked Rybarikova but was broken only twice.
Williams will next face Olga Puchkova of Russia, who cruised past Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 despite eight double faults. The 109th-ranked Puchkova, who upset third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the first round, will be trying to reach her first final since 2006.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.