Serena Williams clinched a spot in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Championships after beating Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-4 for her third straight win in the group phase. Williams was broken to trail 2-1 in the first set but then won seven straight games to take control of the match. She converted her third match point when Dementieva sent the ball into the net. Serena has already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking after Dinara Safina pulled out of the tournament with a back injury.This was by far Serena's most definitive match of the three that she has played. She struck the ball with such authority and power that the first set was over before Dementieva knew it. Serena's serves and returns were jaw dropping and she played an overall clean game. Her movement was phenomenal, even though her left thigh was heavily taped. The second set was much closer as it appeared Dementieva was slowly coming to terms with Serena's game (which was full of power, precision and purpose). Serena put tremendous pressure on Dementieva's serves and returns. I was truly impressed with Serena for she let her play match her new top notch ranking. Most impressively, in 3 consecutive days Serena defeated French Open Champion - Svetlana Kuznetsova, SEC defending Champion - Venus Williams and Olympic Gold Medalist - Elena Dementieva. Wow!!
Serena's Match Stats:
1st Serve Percentage: 62%
Aces: 6
Double Faults: 1
Winners: 28
Unforced Errors: 13
Break Points Won: 5/10
Match Time: 1hr 34min
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