Venus rolls into semis, bids for 4th Key Biscayne title
The woman with the best chance to beat Venus Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open watched Tuesday's quarterfinals from the photo pit.
Serena Williams had no camera but used her connections to secure a front-row seat as she watched sister Venus beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1.
Top-ranked Serena has been sidelined by a knee injury since winning the Australian Open in January. In her absence, Venus has become the woman to beat as she bids for her fourth Key Biscayne title and her first since 2001.
"When I'm executing and playing my best, it's great," Venus said. "It feels good, and I feel like I'm definitely dictating the points and that I don't give my opponent as many chances to have a say."
The oldest women's quarterfinalist at 29, Venus is the hottest player on the WTA Tour. She has won 14 matches in a row, and two more would give her three consecutive tournament titles for the first time since 2002.
In the men's fourth round, Andy Roddick advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Benjamin Becker 7-6 (4), 6-3. Roddick was serving at 1-4, love-40 in the first set when he rallied Tuesday on the strength of his dominating serve. He won 34 of his final 39 service points, including all six in the tiebreaker.
Roddick, seeded sixth, improved to 23-4 this year and leads the men's tour in wins. His only Key Biscayne title came in 2004.
Earlier, American Mardy Fish retired with an injury trailing Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 1-0. No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat No. 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2, and No. 33 Nicolas Almagro eliminated No. 27 Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
The No. 3-seeded Venus Williams hit eight aces and lost only five points on her first serve. She broke five times, including in the pivotal eighth game, when Radwanska had consecutive double-faults and then hit a 62-mph knuckleball serve that Williams pounced on to whack a winner.
Williams struggled with her backhand but won 15 of 19 points at the net.
"I play my best game when I'm more aggressive, because that's my style," she said. "Others don't play as well as aggressive, because that's not their style. It just seems to be better when I move forward, and I try to do that."
Radwanska, seeded sixth, fell to 4-18 against top-five players.
