Fri Mar 7 11:14:05 2008

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Venus, Serena to meet in semis; Jankovic falls in India

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Bangalore, India (Sports Network) - The powerful Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, will clash in the semifinals, while top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic came up a quarterfinal loser Friday at the $600,000 Bangalore Open tennis event.

The world No. 4 Jankovic gave way to 54th-ranked Chinese Zi Yan 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours on the hardcourts at KSLTA Signature - Kingfisher Stadium. Yan is now 2-0 lifetime against Jankovic, with the other victory coming in Bangkok last year.

The veteran Williams sisters, meanwhile, both cruised into the final four, as a second-seeded Venus handled seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3 and a third-seeded Serena dismissed Russian Anastassia Rodionova 6-1, 6-4 on Day 5 here. The reigning Wimbledon champion Venus, currently ranked seventh in the world, and Serena, at No. 11, own 14 Grand Slam singles titles between them and both women are, of course, former world No. 1s stars.

The 27-year-old Venus and 26-year-old Serena have split their first 14 matchups on the WTA Tour. They haven't met since 2005, when Venus prevailed in the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Venus has won their last two meetings, this after Serena rattled off six straight wins in the series.

One other Friday quarterfinal saw fourth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder come back to beat Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1). Schnyder will face Yan in the other semi on Saturday.

The 2008 Bangalore champion will take home $95,500.