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Venus Williams - Source: Reuters -
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Former champion Venus Williams ended the run of French Open champion Francesca Schiavone at the US Open when she beat the flamboyant Italian 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals today.
The 30-year-old American, seeded third and champion at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, had a little too much power for the seventh seed, battling through in one hour 54 minutes to reach the last four for the eighth time.
"She played a great match," Williams said in a courtside interview. "It's not easy to play in these conditions, it's hard to know what decisions to make, but she played excellent."
Schiavone, who became the first Italian woman to win a grand-slam singles title when she won the French Open in June, recovered from 4-2 down to force a tiebreak in the first set.
Breezy conditions made life difficult for both players and Schiavone came from 4-0 down in the tiebreak to make it 4-4 before Williams, wearing a sparkling pink dress, closed it out 7-5.
The American then stormed to a 4-1 lead in the second set only for the resilient Schiavone to break back and get on serve again at 4-3.
The Italian enjoyed plenty of success by feeding short slices to Williams, who made 33 unforced errors.
Williams broke again to lead 5-3 but once more, the Italian broke back, only for Williams to break yet again to clinch victory.
In the semi-finals, the American faces either defending champion Kim Clijsters or Australian fifth seed Sam Stosur.
