Serena Williams defeats Pennetta, advances to U.S. Open semis

Published 6:24 pm Wednesday, September 3, 2014

NEW YORK — After a bad-as-can-be start, dropping the first three games, Serena Williams quickly turned things around and stretched her U.S. Open winning streak to 19 matches to get back to the semifinals.

Considered the best server in women’s tennis, the No. 1-seeded Williams was broken twice in a row at the outset Wednesday night, before taking complete control for a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

Williams is bidding to become the first woman with three consecutive U.S. Open titles since Chris Evert took four in a row from 1975-78. The 32-year-old American also is trying to pull even with Evert and Martina Navratilova at 18 Grand Slam singles trophies.

On Friday, Williams will meet 17th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.