Venus edges out Serena

Venus won the battle of the Williams sisters to book her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami.

The elder Williams defeated Serena 6-1 7-6 (10/8) to record the first victory over her sibling in tournament play in seven meetings.

Serena, the third seed and three-time defending champion here, had not been beaten by Venus since the 2001 US Open final.

“I kept my errors down and I think the first set for me was fantastic,” said Venus. “The second set I feel like I definitely lost some opportunities, but that was okay.”

Venus, seeded eight, now meets second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia in the semi-finals after the reigning Wimbledon champion defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium 6-1 6-7 (6/8) 6-2 in the last eight.

Sharapova was meeting the Belgian for the first time and admitted she knew what to expect.

“She has been a top player,” Sharapova said. “I was expecting a really tough match and it came out to be really tough.”

Henin-Hardenne said: “She was playing unbelievable tennis. She’s tall and she’s powerful. She’s a great player.”