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BANGALORE, India -- Venus Williams will play sister Serena in the Bangalore Open semifinals after both advanced with easy victories Friday.
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Venus Williams cruised past Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3, and Serena Williams outplayed Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-4. Unseeded Yan Zi of China also upset top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the semis of the $600,000 tournament.
The Williams sisters -- second-seeded Venus and third-seeded Serena -- will play Saturday in their first match against each other since Venus defeated Serena in the 2005 U.S. Open. The two have split their 14 career meetings.
Yan's semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder, who faced a strong challenge before downing Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in the quarters.
"This is one of the best wins of my career, it's been a dream run," said Yan, who defeated eighth-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia in the opening round.
World No. 4 Jankovic struggled with her serve as Yan seized control of the match. Yan clinched the first set by breaking Jankovic in the eighth game and raced out to a 4-0 lead in the final set.
"I was struggling with my service in the first set," Jankovic said. "Then my shoulder began troubling me after the second set. I hope the injury is not serious."
Venus Williams built a 5-1 lead in the first set. She forced two breaks in the second set while dropping serve once.
"It was difficult to play Venus today," Zvonareva said. "I have a lot of work to do. I have not been at my best form and need to get better."
