Serena Williams books clash with sister Venus

American Serena Williams survived a scare from China's Li Na to advance to the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA tournament where she awaits a tussle against her sister.

The top-seeded Serena Williams lost the first five games but rallied to beat Li 4-6, 7-6 7/1, 6-2 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

She will face sister Venus Williams who earned a semi-final berth with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Czech Iveta Benesova.

Ask to explain what went wrong early against unseeded Li, Serena said she couldn't get going, "I don't know. I just had a really slow, retarded start."

Serena Williams was on the verge of defeat, but Li failed to convert all six of her break-point chances in the pivotal second set.

"She didn't give me any chance," Li said. "I had six or seven break points but I didn't hold for one point.

"In the final set she played much better. In the first set she didn't try 100 percent."

Williams is seeking her sixth Miami title, which would break the record she shares with Steffi Graf.

The other semi-final on Thursday will be between eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 11 Victoria Azarenka.

Serena said she would give herself a failing grade for the first set on Wednesday.

"If I was in school and I was like a professor and I had to give myself a grade, I would give myself like an eight percent out of 100."

Asked if she would remember this match and try to learn from her mistakes, Serena said, "I'm thinking about shredding the DVD too."

She said she usually talks more out loud when she is on her game and that didn't happen against Li.

"I wasn't as upbeat and spirited as I normally am. I think maybe one or two 'come ons' during the whole match which is not really normal for me."

Serena said she expects to play better against three-time champ Venus in the semi-finals.

"I am always going to be up for V," Serena said. "Because she's playing really well and always playing me super tough.

"It is like I automatically have to be on a different level because she's already playing a different level.

"I was feeling like she play Fed Cup, three in a row Chinese players," Li said. "Good for the Chinese. They have more experience to play No. 1 in the world."



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