World No.3 Venus Williams is now just one step away from her third Bank of the West Classic title, having reached her seventh final at the tournament. Her opponent in the title match will be last year’s finalist, France’s Marion Bartoli.
The second-seeded Williams crashed third seed Elena Dementieva 6-0 6-1 and scored her ninth win, and sixth straight, in 11 career encounters with the Russian.
In the other semifinal, eighth seed Marion Bartoli won a see-saw match against Samantha Stosur 6-3 1-6 6-1. Bartoli took control of the deciding set by winning four games in a row en route to the two-hour, four-minute victory.
Williams and Bartoli have met only once before, in nothing less than the final of Wimbledon, and the American won 6-4 6-1.
Additional info: Along sister Serena, Venus Williams is also competing in the doubles final at Stanford. (photo courtesy of our reader Colleen)
