Fri Jul 18 19:26:02 2008

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Serena cruises into semis at Stanford

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Stanford, CA (Sports Network) - Serena Williams breezed past Patty Schnyder in straight sets to move into the semifinals at the $600,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event.

The top-seeded Williams beat the fifth-seeded Swiss Schnyder 6-3, 6-1. Williams will face either Australian Samantha Stosur or Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada in her semifinal match.

Williams, who is making her first appearance at this tournament on the hardcourts at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, was last month's Wimbledon runner- up to her older sister Venus.

Also advancing was Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama, who reached the final four by besting Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 5-3. Cibulkova retired nearing the finish line, as Sugiyama reached her first singles semifinal this year.

In the final quarterfinal match Friday, defending champion and second-seeded Anna Chakvetadze faces sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli. The Russian Chakvetadze defeated India's Sania Mirza in last year's Stanford finale.

The 2008 Stanford titlist will collect $95,500.