Super Serena surges
Miami, April 2: Serena Williams marked another milestone on Wednesday, punching her to a semifinal ticket at the Miami Masters with her 700th career match win, a 7- 6 ( 7/ 4), 1- 6, 6- 3 triumph over Sabine Lisicki.
Williams will face a familiar foe for a place in the final, taking on popular Romanian Simona Halep, a 6- 1, 7- 5 winner over Sloane Stephens.
World No. 1 Williams became the eighth player to win 700 WTA matches. Martina Navratilova owns the most match wins, with 1,442.
“I didn’t know I had 700, now I just want to keep going, doing the best that I can,” said the 33- year- old American, who was feted with a cake from tournament organizers after the victory.
Third- seeded Halep dominated Stephens, racing to a 6- 1, 3- 0 lead before the American dug in. Stephens won five of the next six games to take a 54 lead in the second but couldn’t force a third set.
“I am really happy I played like this, it was an amazing match for me. I played my best till 3- 0 in the second set, and then I lost the rhythm a little bit,” Halep said. World no. 4 Andy Murray booked his semi- final berth on Wednesday, rallying for a 3- 6, 6- 4, 6- 1 win over Austrian Dominic Thiem.
The third- seeded former champion will face eighth seed Tomas Berdych after the Czech dispatched Juan Monaco 6- 3, 6- 4 to extend his perfect record against the Argentine to 7- 0.
Murray, who won title at Crandon Park in 2009 and 2013, was initially stunned by the clean and powerful one- handed backhand of the 21- yearold Thiem, who has looked strong in Miami after coming into the tournament with a 3- 5 record in 2015.
“I expected a tough match, he’s beaten some very good players this week. He’s a very big hitter of the ball, a very strong guy,” said Murray, who needed one hour and 44 minutes to seal the win.