AP, Indian Wells :
Venus Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, where she first broke out as a 16-year-old qualifier in 1997.
Williams has never reached the final of the desert tournament and to do she’ll have to get by 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who has yet to drop a set in four matches at Indian Wells.
At 37, Williams is the oldest player in the draw. She made the quarterfinals in her tournament debut in 1997 and notched her first win over a top-10 player before losing to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport.
Williams took 71 minutes to put away Suarez Navarro for the fourth straight time on Thursday. Playing in swirling winds, Suarez Navarro committed 29 unforced errors to 17 for Williams.
Kasatkina needed just 58 minutes to dispatch former No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
The Russian has knocked out U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and No. 2-ranked Caroline Wozniacki along the way.
“Maybe, yeah, from the side or with the score it looks like it was simple, but of course it’s not,” Kasatkina said. “I knew that in one moment if I will lose focus just for a second, they will come back and then the big battle, five hours again, will start.”
The German never managed a break point against Kasatkina’s serve. The Russian connected on 82 percent of her first serves, winning 22 of 32 first-serve points.
“This one I will try to forget as fast as possible,” Kerber said.
Venus Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, where she first broke out as a 16-year-old qualifier in 1997.
Williams has never reached the final of the desert tournament and to do she’ll have to get by 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who has yet to drop a set in four matches at Indian Wells.
At 37, Williams is the oldest player in the draw. She made the quarterfinals in her tournament debut in 1997 and notched her first win over a top-10 player before losing to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport.
Williams took 71 minutes to put away Suarez Navarro for the fourth straight time on Thursday. Playing in swirling winds, Suarez Navarro committed 29 unforced errors to 17 for Williams.
Kasatkina needed just 58 minutes to dispatch former No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
The Russian has knocked out U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and No. 2-ranked Caroline Wozniacki along the way.
“Maybe, yeah, from the side or with the score it looks like it was simple, but of course it’s not,” Kasatkina said. “I knew that in one moment if I will lose focus just for a second, they will come back and then the big battle, five hours again, will start.”
The German never managed a break point against Kasatkina’s serve. The Russian connected on 82 percent of her first serves, winning 22 of 32 first-serve points.
“This one I will try to forget as fast as possible,” Kerber said.
