Williams powers through

Venus Williams surged into the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, brushing aside Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-1.

The number three seed, who struggled against Daniela Hantuchova yesterday, had no such problems today as she cruised to a straight sets victory in one hour and 15 minutes.

“[Today was] a little more straightforward,” said Williams after seeing off the number six seed.

“We had some kind of interesting times in the first set where we traded breaks. Getting through a match like yesterday makes me more confident because it wasn’t exactly my best game.

“Today I was kind of eager to clean up my act. We had some really good rallies and really good points, but I just see me keep coming out on top, so of course I like that.”

Williams served eight aces during the course of the match with five of those coming in a n impressive second set where she won 82% of her first-serve points.

The 29-year-old will now face former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli who ousted 12th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 7-5.

Bartoli survived a scare early on in the second set but the 13th seed fought back from a break down to clinch her place in the final four.