Stanford: Wimbledon champion Serena Williams advanced to the Stanford Classic final after she crushed Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday. She will meet fellow American Coco Vandeweghe, who made her first WTA final after overpowering Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Williams, who had a superb service game during Wimbledon, struggled against Cirstea but controlled the te-mpo of the match against the Romanian, who had trouble keeping the ball in court and committed 32 unforced errors.
Williams broke Cirstea four times in the match and only faced one break point, which she easily fought off.
She was the steadier and more creative player, wowing the crowd with a couple of sweet lob winners over Cirstea’s head.
“I wasn’t really happy today but I did what I had to do. I won and that’s important,” said Williams, who was so dissatisfied with her first serve, making just 38 per cent, she went out and practised on it straight after the match.
“I’m just trying to get something, and I feel like I haven’t served well at all and 38 per cent is outrageous,” Williams said while adding she was looking forward to meeting her young compatriot in the final.
“She’s done well and will go out tomorrow and go for the glory,” Williams said. “I don’t blame her because I’ll do the same thing.”
The 20-year-old Vandeweghe used her massive serve to upset the fifth seed Wickmayer, nailing 12 aces of her 32 winners overall.
“I’m excited to be in the final of a WTA event,” Vandeweghe said. “Hopefully, this is a good omen for me going into the U.S. Open.”
The 6-foot-1 tall Vandeweghe came out firing and immediately broke the Belgian with a backhand winner, then broke her again to take a 5-2 lead before she closed out the set with three service winners and a forehand down the line. (Reuters)
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