Serena slams Kirilenko; Advances to Semifinal

ROME (AP) -- Top-ranked Serena Williams dispatched Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 Thursday, then waited to see if she will meet sister Venus in the Italian Open semifinals. "I have a really tough opponent next match whether it's Venus or Jelena," Serena said. "Obviously, 'Go V!"' Serena had been out with a left knee injury since winning the Australian Open in January. "My knee is feeling good so far," she said. "I can't believe I'm still in the tournament -- it's weird."

After cruising through the first set and taking a 4-0 lead in the second, Serena lost three straight games before regaining control on her service games. She blasted aces at 123 mph and fired baseline winners at will. Serena had an 8-1 edge in aces and 19-7 in winners. She attributed the brief lapse in the second set to a lack of "match toughness."

"I definitely should have been up 5-0," she said. "Hopefully as I start playing more, I'll start to close these games out better." Serena won this clay-court warmup for the French Open in 2002 en route to her only title at Roland Garros.