Safina battles past Venus

Safina and Williams battled it out with ferocious hitting,with the American often rushing the net to finish off points. Both players fired winners as momentum shifted between the two during their 3 hour,9 minute match. It was a very long match and I think I played one of my best tennis matches,that I hadnt played for a long time, Safina said.

Williams closed out the first-set tie-breaker with a delicate drop volley,and then went on to break her opponent in the opening game of the second set. But the 23-year-old Russian came back to level the match after a little more than two hours.

In the third set,players exchanged breaks until Safina got the decisive one and won on her third match point,after committing three double faults and saving four break points. It was not easy mentally, said Safina,who had lost her two previous matches with Williams.

Safina had 32 winners,compared to 38 for Williams. But she also committed fewer unforced errors. Williams,by reaching the semi-finals in Rome,is still assured of jumping from her current No. 5 position to third.

Kuznetsova landed little more than half of her first serves but hit 23 winners and broke Azarenka three times in the first set. In the second,the sixth-seeded Azarenka pushed ahead with a break but appeared to lose her concentration as she disputed a call by the umpire in the third game. She lost the next five games and lost on the fourth match point.