Williams secures spot in semis; Jankovic continues run on Day 5

Since winning Wimbledon, Venus Williams suffered two quarterfinal losses in her next two tournaments, but on Friday, she was ruling the court, as she took out one of the most hottest players on the tour in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Williams never faced a break point and broke serve three times on the way to victory against Dinara Safina, 64 62.

"I was pretty happy with the way I played today," Williams said afterwards. "She served well but fortunately I was able to get some first serves in too. When I had the opportunity to approach the net I did, so overall I was really pleased with my performance. I'm excited to be in the semis. It has been 10 years since I played here and whoever I play tomorrow, I will be looking to go one further. I'm encouraged to see that my hard work pays off."

"I'm a bit disappointed; I was just not as consistent as I needed to be today," Safina said. "It was the first time we played so you never know what to expect, but Venus played well. I don't know what would have happened if I won the first set - it might have changed the match - but I didn't."

Williams next faces No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic, who won a thrilling two setter to No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva, 76(8) 76(5).

An unseeded semifinal battle will be held between Nadia Petrova and Victoria Azarenka in the top half of the draw. Petrova won to Serena Williams' dispatcher Na Li, 62 63, while Azarenka ousted No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva, 76(6) 36 61.