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By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, April 1, 2015

 
Serena Williams

Serena Williams overcame a six-game second-set slide to beat Sabine Lisicki, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3, score her 700th career victory and reach the Miami Open semifinals for the 10th time.

Photo credit: @MiamiOpen

Straddling the baseline, Serena Williams turned her shoulders, spun a backhand down the line then perched in a one-legged pose while watching the ball splatter the sideline.

On a day in which she suffered a six-game second-set slide, dropped serve six times and sometimes teetered into erratic play, Williams relied on some timely strikes, fierce resolve and a bit of body language to hit her way into history.

Video: Chair Umpire Reminds Why We're Here

The seven-time Miami Open champion hit 700 the hard way.

Fighting at times to tame her serve, her forehand and Sabine Lisicki, Williams eventually prevailed on all fronts earning a demanding 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3 victory.

It was sloppy, but it was special.

Williams captured her 700th career victory to advance to the Miami Open semifinals for the 10th time.

"I didn't tknow I had 700 wins...So now I'm like I just want to keep going, doing the best that I can. Just staying positive andwinning as much as I can," Williams said in her post-match press conference.

"I  know today wasn't my best day. I just told myself, I'm not serving the way I normally serve and hitting the way I normally would hit, so at this point all I can do is just fight and try to give 200 percent instead of 100 percent."

It was Williams' 16th straight win at Crandon Park. She will will face either third-seeded Simona Halep or Sloane Stephens in the semifinals. The 45th-ranked Stephens pushed Williams to three sets in Indian Wells earlier this month.




Challenging conditions against a dangerous opponent — Sabine snapped Serena's 34-match winning streak en route to the 2013 Wimbledon final — created stress for Williams from the early stages.

"I think it's more my oppponent: She's really tricky, she really knows how to play and she's really a big fighter," Williams told ESPN's Brad Gilbert in her on-court interview after the match. "It wasn't an easy match for me today. I was just trying to stay out there and do the best I could against a great opponent."

Williams served just 45 percent, hit six double faults, spiked her racquet to the court in frustration then gave it a second whack for good measure to break it, and muttered to herself in frustration. But she kept fighting and continued to try to find solutions.

The 21st-ranked German crunched a swing volley for break point in the 11 game. A tight Williams double-faulted off the tape handing Lisicki the break and a 6-5 lead.

Serving for the set, Lisicki earned set point but Williams whipped a forehand winner down the line to erase it. Spitting out a double fault and backhand error, Lisicki gifted the break back as the set escalated into the tie break.

In the breaker, Williams stuck a shot on the baseline and used a net-cord winner to seize a 4-1 advantage. Sliding into a one-handed stab backhand slice winner down the line that would have made Roger Federer proud, Serena skidded to a stop raising her arms like a woman who had just won a race. That sensational winner gave her set points at 6-3. She closed the set on a Lisicki double fault.

The German took a bathroom break and returned to court with more clarity. Williams broke to start the second set, but soon lost the range and completely collapsed.

Directing her attack at the top seed's forehand, Lisicki saved break point holding for 2-1. Drawing a forehand error, Lisicki broke again for 3-1.

A flat-footed Williams, whose footwork on the forehand side was not as precise as it was in the earlier rounds, could not find the court for stretches as Lisicki reeled off six straight games to power through the second set. Lisicki did a fine job changing the pace then jolting hard drives to jar the Williams backhand.

Williams paced to her court-side seat staring at the court beneath her feet and calming herself for the impending comeback.

The crowd tried to rouse the champion with some scattered "Come on Serena!" shouts. She held at 30 to snap the six-game slide.

"It was really important for me to just get a game at that point," Williams said in her on-court interview. "At that point, I lost six in a row, I just wanted to get on the board and just give it my all in terms of fighting. I felt if I could fight a little better I could do a little better."

Continuing to hammer away at Williams' forehand, Lisicki paid the price for predictability when Williams scalded a forehand winner down the line for 3-0. Lisicki owns the fastest serve in WTA history — a 131 mph missile  — but while her first serve is a blast her second was a gasp. Williams won 65 percent of points played on Lisicki's second serve and never relinquished the break.



She closed in two hours, savoring the 700th win and celebrating with a welcome-mat sized cake the tournament wheeled out for the champion.



 

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