Serena Advances, Venus Falls

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After her older sister Venus’ upset loss to China’s Li Na in the previous match on Rod Laver Arena, four-time champion Serena was down a set and 4-0 in the second before she rebounded for a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Venus Williams couldn’t make it to an expected sister semifinal, losing in a mistake-filled match featuring in a combined 110 unforced errors against Li.

The result is that Serena will take on Li, who beat Venus 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Justine Henin, playing in her first Grand Slam tournament in two years after coming back from a two-year retirement, will play Zheng Jie in the other semifinal.

Li and Zheng were the first Chinese pair to reach the quarterfinals at the same Grand Slam.

Azarenka wilted in her fourth-round match with Serena here last year, retiring in the second set with a virus after taking the first set.

This time, the 20-year-old Belarussian was undone by a trademark comeback by Williams, who is the only player to save match points on the way to three Grand Slam titles. She did it at Wimbledon last year and at the 2003 and 2005 Australian Opens.

Initially, Azarenka looked like she’d continue the Williams family woes. She broke Serena in the opening game and then, after fending off three break points, held her own opening serve in a game that lasted more than 15 minutes and went to deuce nine times.

It was mostly one-way until Williams started her comeback in the second — winning five straight games and then getting on top again at the end of the tiebreaker. She dominated the third set, converting both her break-point chances.

Li, who is forecast to go into the WTA’s top 10 rankings after the tournament ends, was dominant in the third set when it counted against Venus Williams, who has five Wimbledon titles and two at the U.S. Open.

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