Serena reaches semifinals of U.S. Open

Minus the usual ceremonial schmaltz of the women's final, Saturday night's semifinal between Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in Arthur Ashe Stadium is going to feel a lot like the championship match of the U.S. Open.

And because of a weather-impacted schedule change, the other women's semi will be played tomorrow night between Samantha Stosur and the unheralded Angelique Kerber.

Wozniacki is ranked No. 1 in the world and is seeking her first Grand Slam title. Williams holds 13 of those titles and is on a roll after her return this summer from injury and illness. She also is the clear favorite of the Open crowds, who have welcomed her back warmly after a two-year absence.

They both took care of business in the quarterfinals Thursday, Williams eliminating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-1 in a sloppy match on Ashe. Wozniacki, originally scheduled to play on Armstrong Stadium until water-leaching issues forced the court to be abandoned, defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (5) on Court 13.

Williams and Wozniacki have only met twice before, and that was two years ago. Williams won the first match in two sets and Wozniacki retired from the second with a stomach muscle problem. Wozniacki has won six tournaments this year, though she hasn't appeared in a Grand Slam final. Williams came back for the grass court season, then won two straight hard court tournaments in the United States. Thursday, neither of them looked the clear-cut champion.

Williams and Pavlyuchenkova traded six consecutive breaks of serves at the start of the first set. "I think for me it was a slow start, and once I lost serve, I was determined to break serve so I would be down a break," Williams said. "Then I just kept losing serve in the beginning. Very weird."

After having two days off because of rain, she wasn't moving her feet well. "I just think I was a step slow in the beginning," Williams said. "So once I kinda got out in the match, once I showed up, I was able to play better."

It took a while to get her serve unlocked, and she served less than 50 percent on her first serve in the first set. She made it a weapon in the second set.

As for Wozniacki's weapons, Williams said: "I think her weapon is that she never gives up . . . That's probably the biggest weapon you can have in tennis. And she's running every ball down."

Said Wozniacki of facing Williams: "She's been proving that she's back on fire. I'm excited to be out there and play, and hopefully it will be a good match."

Stosur won her eighth consecutive match against the second-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. Zvonareva wore a black ribbon on her visor in sympathy for the hockey players killed in a plane crash in Russia on Wednesday.

Flavia Pennetta was trying to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal, but she ran into the lurking Kerber, a German of Polish descent. The unseeded Kerber beat Pennetta, the 26th seed, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.