TOKYO -- Serena Williams routed Australia's Nicole Pratt
6-1, 6-0 on Friday, winning in 39 minutes to reach the semifinals
of the Toyota Princess Cup.
The only game the world's No. 1 player dropped was the fourth, a
break of serve. Williams, the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and French Open champion, had
seven aces at Ariake Colosseum.
"I'm starting to get focused,'' she said. "I'm almost where I
want to be for the first tournament after the U.S. Open. It's hard
to get refocused after such a big win, but I'm getting there.''
Williams next faces Amy Frazier, a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over
sixth-seeded Tatiana Panova.
Jelena Dokic, seeded second and the defending champion, cruised
to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn. Her
semifinal opponent will be third-seeded Kim Clijsters, who beat
Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-2.
This will be only the second time this year Frazier has played a
WTA Tour semifinal. The other appearance came in Hobart, Australia,
in January.
The only time Williams and Frazier played was at the 2000
Canadian Open, with Williams winning 6-0, 6-1.
In doubles, Williams and Martina Navratilova lost 7-5, 6-4 to
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Williams was
playing doubles with Navratilova for the first time.
"We didn't use our quickness at the net enough,'' Navratilova, 45, said. "We played well up and down but not
across, and I think that's something that would just come with
time.
"I'm frustrated because we didn't win, but more than anything
else it means we don't get to come back and do this tomorrow.''